"This conflict is due to a disagreement between the Federal Service for the Supervision of Legislation in Mass Communications and the Protection of Cultural Heritage and the Mass Communications Ministry," federal service head Boris Boyarsky said.
The Mass Communications Ministry had provided the BBC with a radio broadcasting license without approval from the federal service.
"The federal service's position is that the broadcasting of foreign radio stations must be done in line with current Russian legislation. That is, they must be registered according to the established procedure in Russia's territory, pay taxes, present their strategies to the Federal Competition Commission and receive a broadcasting license," Boyarsky said.
Only after doing this can a radio service apply to the Mass Communications Ministry for a technical license and establish which local services will re-broadcast its programs, he said.
