Background and problem: After the break up of the Soviet Union, Russia has experienced a
lot of turmoil and change both politically and economically. The country has struggled to get
rid of its socialist past and it has now evolved to be a more and more important partner in
international affairs and economics. The need to develop a modern accounting system has
therefore been obvious and the country had two choices: to develop its own system or to
adopt an existing one, like IFRS.
Purpose: The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the process of IFRS adoption
for the national accounting system develops in Russia. The additional purposes are to show
how Russia works with reformation of its accounting system, how the national historic and
economic development affected accounting and financial reporting, and to define obstacles
and problems which the country in general, and separate companies, in particular, have come
across in connection with IFRS implementation. Another purpose has been to contribute to
Göteborg University with useful information with a subject that nobody has researched at the
School of Business, Economics and Law before.
Delimitations: As the field of study Russian non-banking companies which use IFRS were
chosen. The study is delimited by description and analyse the general and common problems
and 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 Russia
held in St. Petersburg in November 2005. The lectures given and interviews made with
attendants from this conference provided the author with unique first hand material. People
interviewed were auditors as well as financial managers at companies. Other printed
information about IFRS in Russia was mainly found on the Internet as it is still a new subject
with relatively little written about it.
Analysis and conclusions: The Russian government works for a reformation of the
accounting system and to encourage companies to shift to IFRS. The reasons why companies
shift to IFRS are many. The strongest incentive is that this will more easily attract foreign
investors and give them loans at a lower interest. The Bank of Russia also encourages this
step and has demanded that banks use IFRS already from January 1, 2004. The transition is
slowed because of the fact that a considerable part of the Russian economy is in the grey
sector. IFRS introduction implies high costs for companies in form of education and IT. On
the other hand, these investments help modernize the companies and improve their
operational and strategic management. Factor...
