CC BY
12УДК 330.1 ГРНТИ 06.91
Tsimintia Kakhaber
Doctor of Economics, Associated Professor Sokhumi State University
GEORGIA AND OFFSHORES: FROM "TAX HEAVEN" TO "CORRUPTED HEAVEN"
Циминтия Кахабер Венедикович
Доктор экономики, Ассоцированный профессор Сухумский Государственный Университет
ГРУЗИЯ И ОФШОРЫ: ОТ «НАЛОГОВОГО РАЯ» К «КОРРУПЦИОННОМУ РАЮ»
Summary. In the modern world, doing business using offshore companies is a legal and permissible form of business. At the same time, the lack of transparency of doing business offshore, the wide opportunities for money laundering and corruption, instills a well-founded negative attitude towards them in the public, as they carry high risks of shadowing and corruption. Offshore investments facilitate international trade and attract foreign capital to the country, however, in addition to the benefits of offshore investments, we must also focus on the risks that characterize them. In particular, the main threats are the high risks of "systemic political corruption" and the possibility of active participation of offshore capital in political processes. Offshore investments account for a significant share of foreign direct investment in Georgia. As an analysis of existing official statistics shows, in 2011-2020, only 16 offshore centers received more than $ 2.7 billion in foreign direct investment and more than $ 0.5 billion has went out. Luxembourg leads in foreign direct investment from offshore centers (770 999.7 thousand USD).
The work discusses the place and role of offshore companies in the Georgian economy. Pros and Cons of Offshore Investments. Recommendations for offshore capital regulation in Georgia are presented.
Аннотация. В современном мире ведение бизнеса с использованием оффшорных компаний является законной и допустимой формой. В то же время непрозрачность ведения оффшорного бизнеса, широкие возможности для отмывания денег и коррупции формируют у населения обоснованное негативное отношение к ним, поскольку они несут в себе высокие риски коррупции. Оффшорные инвестиции увеличивают активизацию международной торговли и привлечения иностранного капитала в страну, однако, помимо преимуществ оффшорных инвестиций, мы также должны сосредоточить внимание на рисках, которые их характеризуют. В частности, основными угрозами являются высокие риски «системной политической коррупции» и возможность активного участия офшорного капитала в политических процессах. Оффшорные инвестиции составляют значительную долю прямых иностранных инвестиций в Грузии. Анализ существующей официальной статистики показывает, что в 2011-2020 годах только из 16 офшорных центров получили более 2,7 млрд долларов прямых иностранных инвестиций и более 0,5 млрд долларов оттока. Люксембург лидирует по объемам прямых иностранных инвестиций из офшорных центров (770 999,7 тыс. Долларов США). В статье обсуждается место и роль оффшорных компаний в экономике Грузии. Плюсы и минусы офшорных инвестиций. Приведены рекомендации по регулированию оффшорного капитала в Грузии.
Key words: Offshore zone, Offshore capital, Shadow economy, Economy of Georgia, Political corruption.
Ключевые слова: Оффшорная зона, Офшорный капитал, Теневая экономика, Экономика Грузии, Политическая коррупция.
Offshore capital inflows into Georgia have received special attention since the publication of the "Panama Papers". It should be noted that the issues of investment from offshore zones are less studied in the Georgian economic literature, Therefore, one of the topical directions in economic research is to determine the economic content and operation of offshore companies, their role and place in the Georgian economy, the pros and cons of offshore capital, the basic conditions for offshore capital regulation.
The role of offshore companies in Georgian economy is essential. Despite the fact that in many cases it is hard to determine offshore capital, different competent organization researches and even official statistics indicates that offshore companies' interest in Georgia is quite high. In particular," As a result of
"international Transparency - for Georgia's" research, as of June 2021, there are about 3200 companies registered in the Georgian Business Register, all or part of which are owned by an offshore company, including 160 large and medium-sized companies. In 2011-2020, 784 companies in the country carried out $ 5.2 billion in foreign direct investment from offshore, which is 38% of the total foreign investment [2].
Offshore: essence, function, terms. Many options for defining offshore are known, but the main point is that offshore is a country or a certain area of the country where companies enjoy special benefits, such as: Low taxes, owner privacy, simple rules for company registration, reporting and operations. Because of these conditions, offshore companies are often referred to as "tax heavens". It should also be noted that in modern
conditions, the attractiveness of doing business through offshore zones is often not associated with low taxes, as the tax burden under certain conditions is usually not lower than the general one, but the focus is set on the company's asset protection, high level of confidentiality and reducing society's negative approach towards the company's owner. While in the modern world, doing business using offshore companies is a legal and permissible form of business, using its opacity to conduct business, money laundering and corruption opportunities, creates a well-founded negative attitude towards them in society as high risk of shadowing and corruption. Recent offshore documents have further reinforced this view, making it possible to speak of offshore as a "corruption heaven" where revenues from illegal activities are laundered. There is so much negative attitude towards offshore in the society that it is unacceptable for the political culture to associate with offshore, and in revealing such connections, politicians have to justify themselves for a long time and even resign themselves.
Due to its features, it is accepted to divide offshore jurisdictions into British and American models. The British model is more traditional and registering offshore under this model requires a relatively more complex procedure, while the American model is a developed version of the British and is characterized by more flexibility and simplicity.
There are currently about 50 offshore centers in the world and their number is variable. There are different approaches to the classification of offshore centers, one of which is the common division of offshore zones into three groups. The first group -classic offshore zones, in which companies registered are exempt from income tax earned abroad. The second group - offshore zones with low tax burden (up to 10%). High respectability. The third group - quasi-offshore zones [5, 36].
There are several types of offshore companies, the most common of which are: - Offshore banks;
- Offshore financial companies;
- Offshore insurance companies;
- Offshore Trust Companies [5, 37].
It is accepted to divide the preferential tax environment into four conditional groups (unofficial classification of offshore zones):
1. Without taxes;
2. Exemption from income taxes of foreign companies;
3. Low tax havens;
4. Special Tax Havens.
Countries without taxes do not impose taxes on profits and capital, However, there may be an annual registration fee, tax on documents, or a token fee on the company's share capital. In countries where foreign companies are exempt from income taxes, the share of local corporate income companies is taxed. Taxes on all the income of companies in low tax havens are low and at the same time, to avoid double taxation they have agreements with different countries, which is why doing business in such countries is very attractive. In countries with special tax havens, special benefits are
provided for specific types of companies, while other companies are usually taxed.
Georgia and offshore. As we have mentioned, a significant share of foreign direct investment in Georgia is characterized by investments from offshore zones, which can be divided into two groups according to the place of origin:
- Georgian (local) origin, ie exported from Georgia in different ways and then returned from offshore.
- Foreign origin or investments which got in other countries from offshore zones and then in Georgia. It should be noted that the first type of investments have a higher share. (according to the existing calculations 60-70%).
Depending on origins, indicated investments can be legal or created from illegal activities. We are far from believing that investments from offshores are all illegal in origin. Clearly certain portion is obtained in a lawful manner and in this case, the attractiveness of offshore zones is confidentiality, low taxes and/or protection of assets. While in the second case offshore zones are used as a means of money laundering.
As an analysis of existing official statistics data shows more than $2.7 billion in foreign direct investments have been received from only 16 offshore centers and more than $ 0.5 billion has been departed in 2011-2020 years. Luxembourg leads the way in foreign direct investment from offshore centers (770 999.7 thousand USD). It should be noted that accurate calculations are complicated because investments are also made from countries that have offshore zones, but in official public information they are not differentiated into offshore and non-offshore types. It should be noted that in 2011-2020 the largest amount of capital was transferred to Cyprus (212 039.1 thousand USD). The outflow of investments from the country has been intensified since 2017 and during this period the largest (176 418.9 thousand USD) went to the Virgin Islands.
Undoubtedly, offshore investments facilitate international trade and attract foreign capital to the country, and in addition to the benefits of offshore investments, it is clear that we must also focus on the dangers that characterize them. In particular, the main threats are the high risks of "systemic political corruption" and the possibility of active participation of offshore capital in political processes.
The privacy of the real owners of companies registered offshore poses a threat to the fact that the capital is a product of "elite corruption" and continues to participate in this process. In particular, the official who made the decision on the tender, privatization, auction, transfer of property at a discount, participation of the firm in the state program, etc. may be the same person who is the real owner of the offshore registered firm.
Offshore jurisprudence recognizes a number of tax evasion schemes, the most common of which is the application of the universal principle of tax law in foreign trade, intermediation and consulting business, according to which the income whose source is in this country is subject to the necessary taxation, and when
the source is in another country it can be excluded from that country's tax area, revenue gained this way goes to
One form is to rent property from your own, offshore registered company. Unrecognized expenses are converted into explicit (accounting) expenses. As a result, taxable revenues in Georgia are declining due to artificially increasing costs, while offshore revenues are increasing.
As for the active participation of offshore capital in political processes, as various studies confirm and from the published documents appeared traces of the Georgian government of different periods and related people are clearly visible in offshore companies. In particular, the so-called "The Panama Papers" present 85 Georgian citizens, a significant portion of whom (or those they represent) have claims of rapid enrichment during their tenure in power.
In terms of participation in the political processes of offshore capital, we also consider the active participation of Russian (including state) capital from offshore in strategic areas (primarily energy) as a
offshore zone, where it is not taxed or subject to preferential taxation.
significant threat. Due to the Russian political regime, this capital is under the control of the Russian state machine and can be used (is used) for its purposes to influence the political process.
Thus, we can conclude that banning offshore capital from entering the country is not an international practice, nor do we consider it justified, but a legal framework should be created to minimize the dangers of its corrupt transactions and participation in political processes. The standards of developed countries, in which politicians with ties to offshore centers are unacceptable for political culture, should be taken into account.
✓ We consider it expedient to set the standards of offshore companies in Georgia in accordance with the latest experience;
✓ Disclosure of real owners of offshore companies in case of participation in state property
Foreign direct investments in Georgia from offshore zones in 2011-2020 (thousand dollars) [3]
Bahamas 998,5
Sentheis
t-Nevas;
9792,1
Hong Kong; 12648,
Liechtenstein; 15527,2
Seychelles; 36739,1
Mauritius; 39646,7
Cayman Island 50270,8
Marshall Islands; 77587,5
Belize; 94091,2
Cyprus; 94678,8
Virgin Islands; 157951,9
uxembourg 770999,7
100000 200000 300000 400000 500000 600000 700000 800000 900000
0
privatization, state procurement and other state-funded projects (programs);
✓ Strict regulation of offshore companies and/or their affiliates in financing political parties;
✓ It is also important to reduce the tax burden on the country and thus reduce the incentive to enter offshore capital.
REFRENCES
1. "International Transparency - Georgia". Offshores and Georgia. 27 November, 2019. Official site of "International Transparency - Georgia". URL: https ://transparency. ge/ge/blog/opshorebi-da-sakartvelo (In Geo).
2. "International Transparency - Georgia". Offshore companies in Georgia: business interests and corruption risks. 10 June, 2021. Official site of "International Transparency - Georgia". URL: https://transparency.ge/ge/blog/opshoruli-kompaniebi-sakartveloshi-biznes-interesebi-da-korupciis-riskebi (In Geo).
3. Official site of the National Statistics Office of Georgia. URL: https://www.geostat.ge/ka
4. Official site of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. URL: https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/
5. Голованов Е.Б. Теневая экономика. Челябинск. 2015. [Golovanov E.B. Shadow economy. Chelyabinsk. 2015. (In Russ)]
УДК 351.84
Kravchenko Lyubov Andriyivna,
senior lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Law Municipal Institution of Higher Education "Dnipro Academy of Continuing Education " of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council
USE OF SWOT-ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE PRINCIPLES OF TARGETING IN THE SYSTEM OF STRATEGIC PLANNING OF VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT
Кравченко Л.А.
старший викладач кафедри публiчного управлiння та права комунального закладу вищо'1 освiти «Дтпровська академiя неперервно'1 освти» Днтропетровськог обласно'1 ради
ВИКОРИСТАННЯ SWOT-АНАЛВУ ДЛЯ ВИЗНАЧЕННЯ ЗАСАД Ц1ЛЕПОКЛАДАННЯ У СИСТЕМ1 СТРАТЕГ1ЧНОГО ПЛАНУВАННЯ РОЗВИТКУ ПРОФЕСШНО-ТЕХН1ЧНО1 ОСВ1ТИ
РЕГ1ОНУ
DOI: 10.31618/ESSA.2782-1994.2021.1.76.195
Abstract. The article is devoted to the study of the possibilities of using SWOT-analysis to determine the principles of goal-setting in the process of strategic planning for the development of vocational education at the regional level. with. The main method is phenomenological research and comparative analysis of mutually determined processes in the educational sphere and the social environment to determine the same trends in educational and socio-economic processes in the region. It is shown that SWOT-analysis is the most productive for determining the coherence of these processes. The article examines the potential of the regional system of vocational education, the main determinants of this development and its socio-economic and market orientations on the basis of the SWOT-analysis methodology. At the same time, those aspects of the current state of the studied phenomenon that can serve as "growth points" in the process of modernization of vocational education institutions are highlighted. The managerial and social context of using the existing advantages and virtues of the regional system of vocational education of Dnipropetrovsk region is determined. Generalizations on the existing problems of this system and possible directions of their solution, as well as minimization of negative processes in the system of vocational education in the region.
Анотащя. Стаття присвячена дослщженню можливостей застосування SWOT-аналiзу для визначення засад цшепокладання у процеа стратепчного планування розвитку професшно-техшчно! освгга на репональному рiвнi. з. Основним методом е феноменолопчне дослщження та компаративютський аналiз взаемодетермшованих процеав у освггнш сферi та навколишньому сощальному середовищi для визначення однакових тенденцш розвитку освггшх та соцiально-економiчних процеав у регюш. Показано, що саме для визначення когерентносп даних процеав найбшьш продуктивним е SWOT-аналiз.
У статп на основi методики SWOT-аналiзу дослiджено потенцiал розвитку регiональноi системи професшно-техшчно! освiти, основнi детермiнанти цього розвитку та його соцiально-економiчнi та ринковi орiентири. При цьому вокремлеш тi аспекти сучасного стану досладжуваного феномену, якi можуть слугувати "точками зростання" у процесi модернiзацii професшно-освитх закладiв. Визначено управлiнський та сощальний контекст використання наявних переваг та чеснот регiональноi' системи професiйно-технiчноi освгти Днiпропетровськоi областi. Здiйснено узагальнення щодо наявних проблем даноi системи та можливих напрямiв 1'х вирiшення, а також мiнiмiзацii негативних процесiв у системi професiйно-технiчноi освiти регiону.
Key words: public administration, system of vocational education, swat analysis, strategic planning, goal
