British council is to close all out of Moscow offices in Russia by January 1 2008. The lack of legal basis and problems with taxation are called the main reasons.
      
      Mikhail Kamynin , a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry claimed that a new bilateral agreement to regulate the council's activities, drawn up after the diplomatic expulsions from the UK in July, had not been signed. He also accused the council of violating tax laws.
      
      All 15 regional offices of the British Council have been told to suspend their operations. Only the council's Moscow head office will be allowed to remain open. It means the Council has to terminate all its current programs.
      
      The British Council has said its operations in Russia are not illegal, and that it is fully compliant with tax laws. It is working on the agreement on culture cooperation of 1994.
      
      The council is a non-governmental organization that acts as the cultural department of the British Embassy and offers cultural and exchange programs.
      
      The council has come under pressure over the last several years from Russian authorities who claim it is a for-profit organization subject to taxation.
      
      Relations between Moscow and London have been tense.
      
      Britain this year called for Russia to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, whom it identifies as the main suspect in the 2006 killing in London of dissident former security agent Alexander Litvinenko. Russia says its constitution prohibits it from doing so.
      
      Russia, in turn, is furious at Britain for refusing to extradite tycoon Boris Berezovsky, a fierce Kremlin critic, and Chechen separatist envoy Akhmed Zakayev. Both men have been granted political asylum in Britain.
      
      www.news.bbc.co.uk
      www.rian.ru