Auditors target Abramovich146;s Arctic fiefdom

8216;8216;We know of these observations, but they are mostly of a technical nature,8217;8217; a representative for the Chukotka government said. 8216;8216;Half of them have been resolved already, and the other half will be resolved by the end of May.8217;8217; The charges against Chukotka are small change compared to a bill of 1.4 billion that tax authorities have said Abramovich8217;s former company Sibneft owes in unpaid taxes.

Russian tax authorities have launched a campaign against alleged tax evasion among the country8217;s major energy firms.

Russia8217;s richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky is in jail awaiting trial. He was accused of fraud and tax evasion while he was chief executive of oil major Yukos. The charges against him are widely viewed as a Kremlin ploy to strip the politically ambitious businessman of his influence. The tax ministry says Yukos itself owes 3.5 billion in taxes it avoided.

Sibneft and Yukos were to have merged late last year in Russia8217;s biggest deal since the fall of the Soviet Union, but the take-over collapsed in confusion and acrimony after Khodorkovsky8217;s arrest.