It is a member of the Federal Teleradio/Broadcasting Service of Russia, which includes also All-Russian State Teleradio Broadcasting Company, the joint-stock company "Public Russian TV" and regional companies.

"The Voice of Russia" is a capable government-financed economic entity. It is headed by a Chairman and a Board of Directors of world and regional broadcasting services.

The main requirement of "The Voice of Russia" to broadcasting is not to give one-sided coverage or advertise just one point of view. It insists that the entire range of opinions, views and platforms should be represented in the programes.

In foreign policy "The Voice of Russia" gives priority to the views of the state. The most important task of "The Voice of Russia" is to tell people about Russia, to present a realistic picture of this country, make it closer and easier to understand.

Since April 1, 1995, "The Voice of Russia" has had to discontinue broadcasting in six foreign languages. That had been the third time since 1991. Unfortunately, this decision was often motivated not so much by political or historical reasons or by the size of the audiences but by the cost of transmitters, additional capacities and signal delivery. The Voice of Russia is not a commercial radio station. It fully depends on the national budget.

The radio station has had to lay off 30 percent of its staff and employs now one thousand people. For 1996 the budget of the company amounts to 194 billion roubles. "The Voice of Russia" uses 80 transmitters, with 50 located on Russian territory and 30 - in former Soviet republics. Abroad Russia uses a medium-wave transmitter in Germany and two medium-wave transmitters on a barter basis in China.

"The Voice of Russia" began regular overseas broadcasts in German, English and French in 1929.

Today it broadcasts in 32 foreign languages 77 hours a day. The World Service in English broadcasts to all continents 24 hours a day and has special programmes addressed to Africa, Asia, North America and Europe.

The French Service covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North America.

The Spanish Service broadcasts to Latin America and Europe.

The Portuguese Service is received in Europe, Africa and Latin America.

The European Service broadcasts in German, and also in Albanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Greek, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian.

The Middle East Service broadcasts in Arabic, Pushtu, Dari, Farsi and Turkish.

The Asian Service broadcasts in Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Korean, Nepali.

"The Voice of Russia" airs daily news bulletins in 32 languages 24 hours a day. Its morning and evening editions of "The World Today" contain topical commentaries. "People and Events" analyzes current developments. You can also hear a programme for business people, press reviews, reports by "The Voice of Russia" own correspondents, programmes on music, sports, science , history and culture, round-table discussions, interviews with celebrities, quizes, contests and programmes based on listeners' letters.

"The Voice of Russia" broadcasts "Russian by Radio" lessons to countries in all continents. They are addressed to school and college students, teachers, business people, and to all those who are interested in Russia. The company offers manuals and lessons recorded on cassettes.

Today foreign listeners from more than 160 countries maintain contact with "The Voice of Russia" in 48 languages. Although in 16 of them there is no more broadcasting.

The radiocompany's sociological service conducts research into various aspects of international broadcasting. It conducts annual polls of the audience by mail, discussions among listeners, polls of Russian and foreign experts, analyses of listeners' letters. The findings are published in special bulletins.

"The Voice of Russia" publishes a survey "Air Digest", which includes daily reviews of radio broadcasts all over the world.

In 1990 the "Voice of Russia" launched English/Russian language television broadcasts. Till now the TV-Studio (department) has produced 58 films on cultural-historic themes. These films may be seen on the IV All-Russia State TV Channel "The Russian Universities".

"The Voice of Russia" helps to secure contracts for using certain radio frequences and segments of air time to broadcast programmes to the whole world or the territory of the CIS, or for leasing transmitters of the studio complex and communication satellites.