A Russian-owned tractor factory has won a Tax Court claim for a six-figure federal tax credit..Buhler Versatile Incorporated of Winnipeg avoided blacklisting under cabinet’s Russian sanctions..“There is no Russian influence on the company,” Buhler said in an earlier statement following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “All company decisions are made at the head office in Winnipeg.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, Buhler is a subsidiary of Combine Factory Rostselmash Limited of Rostov-on-Don. Its Winnipeg president is a Russian national..“The appellant is currently the only agricultural tractor manufacturer in Canada,” wrote Tax Court Justice Susan Wong. The court upheld a Buhler claim for $972,066 worth of credits under the Income Tax Act..Buhler claimed tax credits under the Scientific Research And Experimental Development program for development of a tractor that met lower emission standards. The Canada Revenue Agency denied the claim..The company received $482,365 in federal grants since 2013, accounts show. It manufacturers Versatile and Farm King-brand implements at plants in Winnipeg and Morden, MB..Other Russian-owned corporations in Canada also escaped sanctions, including Evraz Canada Incorporated, a steelmaker that received $80 million in federal grants and loans since 2018. Evraz operates mills in Regina, Calgary, Red Deer and Camrose, AB,.“We are very aware of Russian interests in Canada,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters last February 28..“These of course are much less significant than Russian interests in most of our partner countries but we’re looking at them closely.”.Cabinet to date has not detailed a list of Canadian assets claimed to be frozen under sanctions against Russia..“Obviously it’s important not only to have a sanctions regime, but also to be able to implement it,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly testified last August 4 at the Commons Foreign Affairs committee..“Sanctions don’t matter,” said New Democrat MP McPherson Heather McPherson..“It doesn’t matter how many there are, it doesn’t matter who is being sanctioned if Canada can choose to waive those sanctions or if those sanctions aren’t being enforced. If the sanctions regime isn’t working it doesn’t really matter how many sanctions you have.”.“How many assets has Canada seized to date?” asked MP McPherson. “When will we be able to get that information? How do we know how the sanctions are being determined? Who is working on this? Where is this information and how can we get it?”.“I think your questions are extremely valid,” replied Minister Joly. “Obviously it’s important not only to have a sanctions regime but also to be able to implement it. The information we have is the information that was made public.”
