THE TAX WOES OF THE NEW RUSSIA

For the struggling Russian government, every day seems to be April 15. That's because some of the biggest taxpayers aren't paying their tax bills, and Moscow is in a bear of a money crunch as a result.

So the Russian bureaucracy has started a crackdown on the worst tax cheats. The tax apparatchiks are starting to apply pressure in an effort to get some of the huge tax backlog into the till. They seem to be bending over backward, though. They aren't expecting full payment all at once. Instead the tax cheats are being asked to agree to an installment plan.

Welcome to the economic world where profitable industries are expected to share their wealth with government. This is a tough time for the Russians, who used to own everything and just skimmed what was needed off the top.

It will be interesting to see how the Russians make out. Perhaps they are sending some observers to the IRS?