Mobilization lacks status – Newspaper Kommersant No. 20 (7465) dated 03.02.

Bankers once again turned to the authorities, in particular to the Federal Tax Service, to resolve the issue of correct confirmation of the borrower’s mobilization status. Credit institutions have had many questions before about confirming the status of a participant in hostilities in Ukraine and the fact of death. This data is needed to grant credit benefits or write it off. At the beginning of the year, according to the Central Bank, the mobilized were issued vacation loans for 63.6 billion rubles.

Almost a year after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and more than four months after the announcement of mobilization in Russia, banks still have problems confirming the status of military personnel and mobilized citizens who are entitled to credit benefits. Thus, on February 2, the Association of Russian Banks (ARB) published a letter to the Federal Tax Service (FTS) “On confirmation of information about military personnel”. ARB has already sent a number of letters on similar problems to the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Defense and the Central Bank.

As follows from the latest document, the feedback received from the Federal Tax Service did not clarify the questions raised by the ARB. Banks, in particular, ask the tax authorities to clarify whether the Federal Tax Service will provide them with confirmation of information about the fact of military service in relation to borrowers who are military personnel, and about the facts of termination of participation in the SVO. Earlier, the Federal Tax Service explained to the bankers that the Ministry of Defense was transferring information about the mobilized persons to the service.

For participants in hostilities in Ukraine and mobilized citizens, according to 377-FZ, credit holidays are provided. By law, the grace period cannot be set before September 21, 2022. From that moment until the end of 2022, the benefit was applied to 167.6 thousand loan agreements for military personnel and / or members of their families for a total of 63.6 billion rubles. Another 400 loans for 396 million rubles. the mobilized owners of small and medium-sized businesses received vacations. In addition, the collection of debts from those called up as part of the mobilization of citizens has been suspended. In the event of the death of a serviceman or the receipt of a disability of the first group, obligations under the loan agreement are terminated.

You can apply to the bank for benefits until the end of 2023, attaching supporting documents. At this point, problems arise. According to the ARB, to confirm the fact of the borrower’s mobilization, a copy of a certificate from the military registration and enlistment office is submitted, but when checking by contacting the Federal Tax Service, the bank often receives an answer that “the corresponding borrower is not mobilized.”

It is not clear whether banks in this case can consider the response of the Federal Tax Service as the basis for refusing to grant benefits to the borrower, you need to contact any other authorized body, they ask the Federal Tax Service in the ARB. According to the vice-president of another banking association – ADB (Association of Banks “Russia”) – Alexei Voilukov, the Federal Tax Service provides information only on mobilized and only at the beginning of mobilization, military personnel and contract soldiers – this is classified information of the Ministry of Defense.

Back in the fall of 2022, the ARB wrote to the Ministry of Defense that banks were unable to verify the facts of the issuance of documents presented by borrowers or their representatives and the validity of the events indicated in them using official open sources of information.

“Documents are often produced not on forms and/or do not contain seals, or in the form of copies that are not duly certified (or certified by persons whose authority and/or the authenticity of the signature cannot be established),” the ARB explained. At the same time, banks also encountered the fact that when checking the passports of dead servicemen on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they receive answers that the corresponding passports are not among the invalid ones or there is no information about them.

Andrey Shagi, managing partner of UC SHAGI, explains that in the event of death or injury to a serviceman, the commander of the military unit in which the victim served or was seconded conducts an investigation. “Close relatives of the victim have the right to contact the commander of the unit and obtain information from him about the circumstances of the injury or death,” he says. “Such certificates are issued by the military commissariats.” However, the expert believes, interaction with them, most likely, has not yet been sufficiently debugged.

Olga Sherunkova, Maxim Buylov