MOSCOW, May 21 (RAPSI) - Three criminal cases have been opened by Russian federal investigators against British American Tobacco's (BAT) local branch on charges of tax evasion amounting to upwards of 335 million rubles ($10.7 million), Izvestia newspaper reports on Monday.

The investigation was opened against BAT's St. Petersburg, Saratov, and Moscow units, as they allegedly failed to fully pay their taxes for the 2008-2009 period.

BAT Russia told Izvestia it hadn't received any information about the criminal cases from the investigators. At the same time, the company confirmed that the tax authorities had found violations in the company's operations in 2008-2009, but the conflict was resolved earlier this month under a procedure set out in the law.

BAT representatives insist that they have been following internationally accepted business practices and believe the Russian tax authorities' claims are ungrounded.

BAT opened its office in Russia in 1991. The company ranks among the leaders of the Russian tobacco market and runs three plants: BAT-Yava in Moscow, BAT-SPb in St. Petersburg and BAT-STF in Saratov.

This is not the first time a large international company has had problems with the Russian tax authorities. In August 2012, the Moscow tax service found that the Bloomberg news agency owed Russia 120 million rubles ($3.8 million) in back taxes for the period between 2006 and 2007.