No Politics Behind British Council Ban

Text of report by corporate-owned Russian news agency Interfax

Moscow, 14 January: Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the international affairs committee of the Russian State Duma, believes that the situation around the British Council branches in Russia, namely those in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, should be settled with proper regard for the demands of the Russian side.

"I am confident that the Russian side will see to it that both these branches either fully meet the demands placed upon such organizations or cease to exist," Kosachev told journalists on Monday [14 January].

He stressed once again that the Russian side categorically opposes the official statement made by the British side that claims being advanced against these organizations are of political nature. "These claims are of exclusively legal and financial nature and have nothing in common with the recent complications in the Russian- British relations, although these complication have indeed reached their climax," the Russian MP said.

Kosachev also said that the essence of Russia’s financial claims with respect to the operations of these two British Council branches is "that they declare they are now acting as cultural sections of British consulates in Russia". "If they are indeed such sections then, in accordance with the Vienna Convention [on Diplomatic Relations] they are exempt from paying taxes and should not engage in any commercial or entrepreneurial activities. However, these branches are involved in such activities," Kosachev said.

The British Council branch in Moscow is the only [branch of the Council in Russia] which operates in accordance with the law, Kosachev added. "The Moscow British Council branch is the only one whose activities are envisaged by the Russian-British intergovernmental agreement signed in 1994," he said.

[ITAR-TASS news agency report, in Russian, at 0834 gmt on 14 January, quoted Kosachev as saying: "I hope that in this situation - which is rather grave - Russian authorities will not give rise to a situation whereby they could be accused of illegal actions - our actions should naturally be legal in nature."]

Originally published by Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0835 14 Jan 08.

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