The British Council's office in St. Petersburg has frozen its projects for the next three weeks amid pressure from Russian authorities over alleged tax arrears, a spokesman said in St. Petersburg on Friday.
"In St. Petersburg, the British Council implemented projects in culture and foreign relations. The projects have been frozen for the next three weeks," Stanislav Smirnov, spokesman for the St. Petersburg office, was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying.
He said one of the projects, the British Animation Festival planned for Feb. 14, may not take place.
About 20 people worked for the council in St. Petersburg, including two British citizens, who were still in Russia, Smirnov said.
The council's Chief Executive Martin Davidson said on Thursday 10 employees had received late-night visits from Russian tax police, and all the 20 staffers had been interviewed by Russian security officials.
The St. Petersburg office suspended work on Wednesday, and the Yekaterinburg office in the Urals closed temporarily the next day following Russian accusations of legal status irregularities and tax arrears, and amid growing tensions between the two countries.
The Moscow office of the British Council continues to operate.
British Ambassador in Moscow Tony Brenton and Foreign Secretary David Miliband have insisted the council's operations in Russia were absolutely legitimate.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday Britain's attempts to politicize the situation surrounding British Council would only serve to harm bilateral relations, and spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said London's decision to suspend the council's regional offices had been long overdue.
"The decision to suspend the British Council's offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg is what the British side should have done long ago," he said.
Russia in December ordered the closure of regional offices of the British Council outside of Moscow since Jan. 1, 2008, citing illegal status and tax problems, an allegation rejected by the British side that re-opened the offices after new year holidays.
On Monday, Russia called the reopening of British Council offices a "deliberate provocation" and vowed to take new measures against the British cultural body while Britain stood firm on the issue that has further soured relations between the two countries.
Ties between Moscow and London have been bruised by the dispute over the poisoning case of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London.
Britain expelled four Russian diplomats in July due to Russia's refusal to extradite a main suspect in the case, Andrei Lugovoi, who was accused of murdering Litvinenko. Russia also expelled four British diplomats in response.
Source: Xinhua
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