Implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards in Russia:Problems and Experiences
Sammanfattning: Background and problem: After the break up of the Soviet Union, Russia has experienced alot of turmoil and change both politically and economically. The country has struggled to getrid of its socialist past and it has now evolved to be a more and more important partner ininternational affairs and economics. The need to develop a modern accounting system hastherefore been obvious and the country had two choices: to develop its own system or toadopt an existing one, like IFRS.Purpose: The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the process of IFRS adoptionfor the national accounting system develops in Russia. The additional purposes are to showhow Russia works with reformation of its accounting system, how the national historic andeconomic development affected accounting and financial reporting, and to define obstaclesand problems which the country in general, and separate companies, in particular, have comeacross in connection with IFRS implementation. Another purpose has been to contribute toGöteborg University with useful information with a subject that nobody has researched at theSchool of Business, Economics and Law before.Delimitations: As the field of study Russian non-banking companies which use IFRS werechosen. The study is delimited by description and analyse the general and common problemsand obstacles for industrial companies they meet on their way of IFRS implementation.Method: The most important source of information was a conference about IFRS in Russiaheld in St. Petersburg in November 2005. The lectures given and interviews made withattendants from this conference provided the author with unique first hand material. Peopleinterviewed were auditors as well as financial managers at companies. Other printedinformation about IFRS in Russia was mainly found on the Internet as it is still a new subjectwith relatively little written about it.Analysis and conclusions: The Russian government works for a reformation of theaccounting system and to encourage companies to shift to IFRS. The reasons why companiesshift to IFRS are many. The strongest incentive is that this will more easily attract foreigninvestors and give them loans at a lower interest. The Bank of Russia also encourages thisstep and has demanded that banks use IFRS already from January 1, 2004. The transition isslowed because of the fact that a considerable part of the Russian economy is in the greysector. IFRS introduction implies high costs for companies in form of education and IT. Onthe other hand, these investments help modernize the companies and improve theiroperational and strategic management. Factors that affect statement quality were alsoresearched. Among them there are converging and transformation methods, degree ofinformation disclosure and auditing. The fate of IFRS in Russia is, however, not clear yetbecause of problems with the translation and a fear of loosing political control.
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