The Russian government’s international radio broadcasting service Golos Rossii (Voice of Russia) will stop its shortwave broadcasts from January 1st next year.

The shortwave service is closing due to funding cuts.  Voice of Russia is to broadcast several programs in foreign languages including Mongolian language for the last time on December 29th, 2013.

Voice of Russia, established in 1929, currently uses the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRBN) transmitters to broadcast to foreign countries using short and medium waves. After the shortwave service goes off the air, only three low-power medium wave transmitters will be used to broadcast to other countries.

The radio will mostly use FM band transmitters based abroad. At the beginning of the year, Voice of Russia cut the total volume of shortwave broadcasts to 26 hours a day from more than 50 hours. Since March 1st in 1946, Voice of Russia has broadcast programs in Mongolian language from Moscow. During the past 67 years the program in Mongolian language, Voice of Mongolia, became the most popular radio program in Mongolia. There are numerous listeners who only listened to the radio for decades in remote area of Mongolia. There was even a friendship club for Voice of Mongolia listeners.