No recent information on threats, harassment or violence against tax inspectors by business owners or organized crime, particularly in the region of Sverdlovsk, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

A March/April 1999 report on government corruption in Russia in Organized Crime Watch - NIS, published by the Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at the American University (TraCCC) in Washington DC, states that the deputy head of administration of the Serovsk district of the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Igor Kudryavtsev, was arrested on 8 January 1999 on suspicions that he was involved in "committing acts of threats in relation to the tax service." According to the report , Kudryavtsev, as a member of a criminal organization called the Lower-Tagilsk-Serovsk criminal group, was incriminated for his participation in the planning of bombings and arson.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Organized Crime Watch - NIS [Washington, DC]. March-April 1999. Irina Belousova. "Organized Crime in Yekaterinburg." http://www.american.edu/traccc/pdfs/ocwatch0399.PDF [Accessed 24 May 2001]

IRB databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sources including:

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

The Russia Journal

World News Connection (WNC)

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