Russian companies received government aid at the same time they were being kicked out of schoolyards

She received a $1 million tax deduction for creating an “automated ordering platform.”

Photo: Liz Aserud/NTB

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According to the report, Russeservice, University, and Redress have the same owner and are in fact monopolists of the Russian market. VG.

They sell, among other things, Russian cards, Russian suits and many other things dating back to Russian times.

At the same time with Russia and Russian industry He's been fired In the schoolyard, they also received support from the state.

This was stated in the book “Fitte og Diesel” about the Russian industry written by journalist VG Ivar Brandvold.

In the period from 2019 to 2022, Redress and Russeservice received six applications for state aid to implement projects within “research and development activities” through the Skattefunn scheme.

Million support

What the R&D projects entail is not made public other than the headlines read: “Automated ordering platform for customer-driven social shopping” and “Much improved platform for simpler, cheaper, safer Russian celebrations.”

– The projects for which we apply for tax discovery support are business sensitive and therefore we do not want to go into detail about what they involve, says Managing Director and Board Member of Russeservice, Ove Kristen Tufte.

Tufte is also a board member of Redress and R&U Holding, according to Proff.no.

It was also not initially made public how much support the company receives through the Skattefunn scheme, but Tufte and the company's auditor provided E24 with tax calculations, which show the company received a total of NOK 1,491,759 in tax relief over the four years.

handbrake

Just before Christmas, the government decided to appoint itself Party brakes for the Russians.

Among other things, the Minister of Education called on all schools in the country to consider banning Russian clothing.

– They can refuse students wearing extremist clothing when it affects the school environment. “I expect it will happen,” Knowledge Minister Carrie Nyssa Nordton (AFP) said just before Christmas.

Companies have received state support through this scheme Find the treasureFind the treasureSkattefunn stands for “Innovative Business Life R&D Tax Deduction” and is administered by the Research Council and the Norwegian Tax Agency..

It allows companies to recover 19 percent of the costs of innovation projects, either through a tax deduction or cash payment.

In 2021 and 2022, the country annually spent NOK 4.6 billion on the scheme.

The scheme has been discussed.

This is the Skattefunn chart

Skattefunn is a rights-based financing program created in 2002 that aims to incentivize more companies into research and development.
The project must be approved by the Norwegian Research Council.
If the project is approved, the company is entitled to apply for a tax deduction of 19 percent of its costs to develop new or better goods, services or production processes, within applicable limits.
Companies that make a profit get the money as a deduction in the tax settlement, while companies that make a loss get the financial support paid directly.

These are the criteria for obtaining project approval through the system:

The project should aim to:

The project must aim to develop new or better goods, services or production processes.
The project should aim to acquire new knowledge or skills, or use existing knowledge or skills in new ways or areas
The project must include research and development (R&D).
The project must be targeted and specific, and it must be possible to separate the project from the normal operations and activities of the company.

General company-oriented product development without a research aspect is not considered an R&D project and therefore cannot be approved as part of the Skattefunn project.

source: Forskningsrådet.no

– It was useful

According to the public Skattefunn database, Redress and Russeservice have received support for these projects:

Fairness And Russian service Each of them received support for two projects called “Automated Ordering Platform for Customer-Driven Social Shopping.” The period during which the project continued was between 2019 and 2020.
Fairness And Russian suit It also received support for each project called “A significantly improved platform for simpler, cheaper and safer Russian celebrations” in the period from 2020 to 2021.
In the period called 2022 to 2022, it took place Fairness And Russian service Support for two projects with the same name as the first: “Automated ordering platform for customer-driven social shopping.”

– The projects for which we received Skattefunn support were beneficial and helped us work more efficiently, says Tufte at Russedress.

Maintains research and development confidentiality

The Research Council's Regional Director for Business and Public Sector Innovation, Anne-Kirstie Waalwijk, explains why two companies are getting support for the same project – at the same time.

Companies are approved for so-called cooperative projects.

The first and last projects have the same title. He explained that the last two projects are an additional approval for one year over the first two due to delays related to the Corona pandemic.

E24 has requested access to several documents related to the projects. The Research Council only granted access to redacted versions of some documents.

The research and development projects contain is among the information that is not made public.

– When it comes to an individual application, they often contain sensitive company information, and publication is taken into account on a case-by-case basis when there is a request for access, says Valvik.

– Restrictions against discrimination

The Ministry of Education is responsible for the Scientific Research Council. E24 asked the ministry why Russian companies were given state aid at the same time as the minister called for a ban on Russian jackets in schools.

The Department of Education cites the Department of Finance because it “owns the regulations for Skattefunn.” State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Erlend Grimstad from the Center Party, says the scheme is global.

– Everyone who meets the criteria for research and development projects and other requirements in the scheme receives support. This makes the skatyphone scheme easy and predictable, Grimstad says.

He goes on to say that the Research Council, which approves applications, cannot exclude industries or companies that receive criticism.

– Excluding some industries will often not be possible either, because EEA rules place restrictions against discrimination.