"The decision of the Tax Service to charge extra taxes on services offered to content providers, per diem allowances and part of the VAT has been annulled. The remaining claims have been turned down," the judge said in the courtroom.
The parties did not comment on the amount of reduced tax claims.
The Federal Tax Service ruled in July that the country's second-largest mobile phone provider, which operates under the Beeline brand, had not paid 1.5 million rubles ($56 million) in taxes for 2003-2004, and claimed an additional 405 million rubles ($15 million) in fines.
In February 2005, VimpelCom settled a dispute with the Tax Service before trial, paying 489.9 million rubles ($18 million) in tax arrears for 2001, although the initial claims were 4.4 billion rubles ($165 million).
The VimpelCom Group's license portfolio covers approximately 237 million people. Geographically it covers 78 Russian regions, with 136.5 million people, representing 94% of Russia's population as well as the entire territories of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Georgia.
