The Russian Ministry of Finance recently issued Letter No. 03-03-06/1/17811, which confirms that the acquiring company in a merger has the right to offset taxable income using the carried forward losses of the acquired company. The letter also clarifies that eligible losses include the losses of the acquired company incurred prior to the acquisition, but that the losses may not be used to offset the taxable income of the acquiring company until the tax period following the period in which the…