Photo: Ralf Ringer
The footwear industry continues to experience pressure from the Federal Tax Service.
The long-running dispute between Russian shoe manufacturer Ralf Ringer and tax authorities continues unabated. The Moscow Arbitration Court has granted the application of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) Inspectorate No. 15 for the city of Moscow for interim measures to seize 1,74 billion rubles in the accounts of Ralf Ringer Production, a company associated with the shoe retailer, Vedomosti reports , citing data from the Arbitration Court's records.
The Federal Tax Service filed a lawsuit against Ralf Ringer Production seeking 1,28 billion rubles in November 2025. Case materials indicate that the company requested the court to recognize the defendant as a related party to JSC Resurs Razvitiya (formerly Ralf Ringer, the group's parent company). Based on this, the plaintiff believes that the latter's tax debt should be collected from Ralf Ringer Production. Resurs Razvitiya itself failed to repay the 1,74 billion rubles, including penalties.
Ralf Ringer, Russia's largest shoe manufacturer, has been in dispute with tax authorities since September 2022. According to the company's CEO and owner, Andrey Berezhnoy, the Federal Tax Service's demands were related to "disputed results" of on-site audits conducted between 2014 and 2017. The total amount of tax claims exceeds 3,2 billion rubles.
In 2024, the company's parent company, JSC Ralf Ringer, was declared bankrupt. At the time, Andrey Berezhnoy assured that the company's bankruptcy would not have any significant impact on the operations of other companies in the group. However, now, the Federal Tax Service's claims have affected other companies as well.
The announcement of the freezing of Ralf Ringer Production's accounts followed the news that one of Russia's largest shoe retailers, Zenden, was winding down its retail business.
Zenden Group CEO Andrey Pavlov cited unfounded claims from the Federal Tax Service as the reason for the chain's forced store closures.
According to Zenden, tax authorities calculated the company's net profit at 60 billion rubles on revenue of 58 billion rubles and assessed an additional 24 billion rubles in taxes and penalties. "This amount is several times greater than what the companies have earned over decades. It's impossible to pay," Andrey Pavlov comments on his Telegram blog.
The company is trying to challenge the audit results. The company's accounts have been frozen for over 200 days.
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