Prominent research foundation fined for refusing to register as ‘foreign agent’

A court has ruled to fine the Dynasty Foundation, a private Russian nonprofit supporting research and education, for refusing to register as a “foreign agent.” The fine amounts to 300 thousand rubles ($5,400).

The ruling was made in accordance with an appeal to court from the Justice Ministry. In addition, the Justice Ministry filed an appeal to fine the organization Liberalnaya missiya (“Liberal Mission”), which is headed by former Economics Minister and current scientific director of the Higher School of Economics Yevgeny Yasin, and financed by the Dynasty Foundation.

The Dynasty Foundation was established in 2002 by Dmitry Zimin, former CEO of Vimpelcom Inc. (a leading company in Russia’s telecom market). The Foundation allocated $10.5 million per year in grants for research and education projects in Russia.

The law on “foreign agents” was passed in 2012 and it requires NGOs that receive funding from abroad and participate in “political activity” to enter a registry and submit themselves to debilitating levels of bureaucratic scrutiny and to label their work as done by “foreign agents.” There are currently 67 organizations on the registry, including the Russian office of Transparency International and the Sakharov Center.

Russia’s Ministry of Justice ruled to include the Dynasty Foundation in its registry of “foreign agents” on May 25. On May 27, it was reported that the Dynasty Foundation was recognized as a “foreign agent” for funding a lecture series and pamphlet publication, organized by Liberalnaya Missiya.

Dmitry Zimin announced that he will no longer be financing the Foundation due to its new “foreign agent” status. He said he will reverse the decision only if the Ministry of Justice takes back its claim and if he gets a formal apology.

For more on the story of the Dynasty Foundation, read ‘Pray to God that your country doesn’t kick you in the shins’