The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Moscow

The British Council won a victory in its politically charged dispute with Russian authorities on Friday when a Moscow court reduced its back-tax fines, news agencies reported.

The Moscow Arbitration Court overruled tax inspectors who had accused the cultural body of evading taxes from 2004 to 2006 amid a deep chill in Russian-British relations, RIA Novosti and Interfax reported.

In January, a secret police crackdown forced the British Council to shut down all but one of its Russian offices amid a diplomatic standoff triggered by the November 2006 radioactive poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko.

In Friday's ruling, judges sided with the British Council in a lawsuit it had filed against tax inspectors, reducing "the main part" of its tax bill and "significantly" lowering fines, Interfax said without giving exact numbers.

The British Council had been facing back-tax charges of 4.3 million pounds, according to the Kommersant daily.