Read what the Czechs wrote about Tatra agent Ravi Rishi

The following is the full text of the story on Tatra and Ravinder Kumar Rishi published by Czechposition.com in April 2011. The story was headlined ‘Tatra faces tunnelling and tax evasion allegations’ The management and a major shareholder in the iconic Czech truck producer Tatra face a criminal complaint for allegedly failing to ensure proper oversight of assets. The anonymous plaintiff claims that the sale of truck parts at knock-down prices to India via an intermediary British company has damaged the company. Václav Láska, a former high-ranking police investigator, lawyer and one-time head of the local branch of watchdog Transparency International, has lodged a criminal complaint against the management of Tatra trucks and one of the firm’s major shareholders, Indian businessman Ravinder Kumar Rishi, on behalf of plaintiffs who wish to remain anonymous due to fears of “labor persecution,” the daily Právo reported on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_261836” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Tatra company sells kits to the British company Vectra Limited without a profit margin, and even at prices lower than the cost of manufacturing. AFP”]  [/caption] Since 2005, Tatra has supplied so-called complete knock-down kits (CKD), containing all the components of haulage  _Láska claims that between 2005 and 2010 Tatra lost profits of around Kč 270 million_trucks to the Indian state-owned firm Beml Limited, which then assembles the vehicles in India. The transactions have been conducted through British-registered intermediary firm Vectra Limited, which, according to the charges, has frequently purchased the CKD kits at below production cost, thus causing losses to the Czech company running into millions of crowns. “The Tatra company sells kits to the British company Vectra Limited without a profit margin, and even at prices lower than the cost of manufacturing. All margins from this business, i.e. all profits from these transactions, go only to the accounts of the British company,” Láska told Právo. “The fact that the representatives of Tatra allow these transactions clearly contradicts the principles of sound economic governance.” Láska claims that between 2005 and 2010 Tatra lost around Kč 270 million in potential profit. The calculation is based on a profit margin of 10 percent per kit, which he says the management intentionally forfeited in order to sell the goods to Vectra Limited at a knock-down price. Láska also says that through the transactions the company also avoided paying tens of millions of crowns in tax. “By transferring the considerable profits to the British company, the Tatra company reduced its income tax payments by tens of millions of crowns,” Láska said. Alleged misuse of information Ravinder Kumar Rishi, deputy chairman of Tatra’s supervisory board, is also the owner of Vectra Limited and thus de facto represents both Tatra and Vectra in business negotiations — and the transactions in question. According to Láska, Ravinder Kumar Rishi may have misused information in these business relations. In 2010, Tatra supplied 600 CKD kits to the Indian company Beml — which assembles the trucks and has large orders with the Indian army — and according to Láska, Tatra has committed to deliver a further 460 kits this year. “If the criminal complaint is deemed to be justified, steps could be taken which will curtail further losses and also stop additional tax evasion,” Láska told Právo. Tatra’s CEO Ronald Adams told the daily that he was unaware of the criminal complaint but claims that Láska’s information about the company’s transactions and finances are incorrect. “If he had asked us before filing the complaint, we could have given it [financial information] to him…. We’ll wait until the investigators ask us and will provide them with the information,” he told Právo. “We believe that it will show that the deliveries in question are advantageous for Tatra and that they positively influence our overall profitability.” Favors for Indian saviors? Adams, a US national who is currently president of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic (AmCham), previously justified the questionable deliveries to the Indian army on the ground that the orders saved Tatra during the depths of the economic crisis. “It’s the Indian deliveries which helped keep production going and cover Tatra’s basic fixed costs,” Právo quoted him as saying in an earlier interview. Tatra is the subject of an on-going police investigation into a delivery of trucks to the Czech Ministry of Defense in 2006 worth Kč 2.7 billion. Tatra won the contract without a public tender being held. Former US ambassador to the Czech Republic and current chairman of the Tatra board, William J. Cabannis, together with Adams claim that in 2008 then-deputy defense minister Martin Barták (Civic Democrats, ODS), tried to elicit a bribe from Cabannis to resolve issues with a subcontractor involved in the defense ministry order.