"We confirm that our officers are conducting searches in Eldorado's central office. The searches are part of a criminal case on tax evasion charges against the company," Anzhela Kastuyeva, press spokesperson for the ministry's department for the Central Federal District, said.
Eldorado's president earlier said the company was facing 8 billion rubles ($333 million) in back taxes. However, a former Eldorado top manager said the company's tax arrears stood at 15 billion rubles (about $625 million).
The company said early in March it planned to appeal against the tax demands.
Igor Yakovlev, the company's president and a major shareholder, earlier said that the retailer could sell some of its assets to pay off arrears if it lost the case. Yakovlev also blamed the arrears on suppliers working with Eldorado at the time.
Eldorado's total debt stands at $1 billion. Its turnover last year was $6 billion.
Tax authorities launched checks of the company, which runs a chain of stores in Russia and Eastern Europe, in 2006.
