Bill abolishing registry of foreign agent NGOs submmited to Russian parliament

Member of Russia’s State Duma Dmitry Gudkov has submitted to the lower house of the Russian parliament on Thursday a bill abolishing the registry of foreign agent NGOs.
"I submitted a bill whose essence is to abolish the institution of foreign agent NGOs," Gudkov told TASS.

The bill envisages amendments to the laws "On Public Associations", "On Non-Profit Organizations", the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes, the Administrative Violations Code and the electoral law.

According to Gudkov, the way this law is applied "looks weird", it is "insulting" for true patriots like [head of the Dynasty Foundation] Dmitry Zimin. "This man spent millions on the development of science in Russia, and he was called a foreign agent," the lawmaker said.

Gudkov noted that the bill retained the existing procedure of financial accounting for NGOs receiving funding from abroad. "There is nothing wrong in presenting accounts, once the government wants to know how these funds are spent, but the institution of "foreign agents" should be abolished," he said.

The law on foreign agents NGOs was passed in 2012. It requires organizations engaged in political activities and receiving funding from abroad to register as foreign agents. According to the Russian Ministry of Justice, the list of NGOs acting as foreign agents includes 68 organizations.