On Monday during a briefing in Moscow, Lieutenant General Sergei Verevkin-Rakhalsky, the head of the Interior Ministry's department for economic and tax crimes, said that his department was auditing the British Council's financial activity in Russia. The Interior Ministry is concerned because the council "earns a lot of money on Russia's territory" by teaching English without paying taxes.
According to the ambassador, the Interior Ministry officials misunderstand the British Council's status and activities. He stressed that the council was a governmental, cultural and transparent organization.
The ambassador said that it would be wrong to compare the council with a commercial firm, because the council is the cultural department of the British Embassy.
The ambassador said that the council did not earn money in Russia, but rather spent large sums (?5.5 million, or $8 million, a year) on the development of cultural and educational relations. He said the council's activity in Russia was unprofitable, but an integral part of British-Russian cooperation.
He said that he discussed the problem with the deputy foreign minister, who according to the ambassador could not explain why the Interior Ministry department had started an audit.
The ambassador stressed that this would not have the slightest affect on developing cooperation between the two countries or the British Council's activity in Russia.
He also said that he was confident that the incident would be settled in a civilized manner.
According to him, the Russian president and British prime minister's meeting during the G8 summit on Wednesday and the signing of an agreement on cultural interaction between Russia and Britain would help facilitate a solution.
The agreement could finally regulate the official status of the British Council, the ambassador said.
