Equal treatment: in March, Russia will launch a register of NPOs with state participation

A unified register of non-profit organizations with state participation may appear in Russia in March 2025. The State Duma will consider the relevant draft law developed by the government in December, Izvestiya reported. The register will allow not only to systematize data on NPOs founded by the state, but also to strengthen control over their financing, the parliament believes. The initiative is also intended to optimize the work of this segment of the non-profit sector, as it will make it possible to understand which structures actually operate and which do not.

Re-registration of NPOs

In December, the State Duma will consider in the second and third reading a government bill on the accounting of NPOs, whose founders include the state, Izvestiafound out. It is about amendments to the law "On Non-Profit Organizations". As a result, a register of NPOs with state participation will be created.

If the law is adopted in December, it will come into force in March 2025 - three months earlier than originally expected. This follows from the amendments to the second reading, which were familiarized by Izvestia - according to them, the term of entry into force of the law decreased from 180 to 90 days from the date of official publication of the document. The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation will be authorized to maintain the register.

Photo: Izvestia/Pavel Volkov

"Izvestia" sent a request to the Ministry of Justice to comment on this initiative.

From the explanatory note to the project it follows that the state "often acts as a founder of NPOs, but no record of such organizations is kept". According to the authors of the initiative, this should be corrected in order to systematize information about them. As a result, this will "help the Russian government and federal authorities to promptly obtain information on NPOs in order to strengthen control over them". At the same time, NPOs created by state corporations and companies will not be subject to accounting.

The Ministry of Economic Development supported the initiative of the Ministry of Justice to create a register.

- Since the unified state register of legal entities does not contain data on the founders, the emergence of the register will make it possible to quickly identify non-profit legal entities with state participation and, importantly, on an official resource. From the point of view of the development of the non-profit sector as a whole, this register contributes to the orderliness of information about NPOs, - explained "Izvestia" in the press service of the agency.

One of the goals of the registry is to eliminate problems with financing NPOs with state participation. Olga Zanko, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Development of Civil Society, Public and Religious Associations, explained to Izvestia that earlier financial support was included in different budget lines and it was not always clear how much money was allocated to support the non-profit sector.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov

- As a result, the Ministry of Finance supported my proposal, and now we will see consolidated information on the budget for the non-profit sector. From the consolidated support for NPOs, it is important for us to understand what support goes to 'state' NPOs," the parliamentarian said.

But it turned out that the government did not have consolidated information on how many NPOs exist in the Russian Federation that were founded by the state. That is why the Cabinet of Ministers introduced this bill.

- We began to look into this issue and it turned out that there were NPOs founded by agencies that no longer exist. We are making a step to bring order in this area," Olga Zanko said.

The staff of the State Duma's profile committee stressed that the creation of the register will strengthen government control over the financing of organizations.

How the register of NPOs will work

It is assumed that the register will contain information about all state NPOs, including those that operate not only in Russia, but also abroad. At the same time, it is not ruled out that the re-registration of non-commercial organizations will entail their reduction.

-The number of NPOs, in my opinion, may be reduced in the event that in the course of creating a general register it is somehow revealed that certain organizations, having been previously registered, have in fact ceased their activities, " Dmitry Novikov, first deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia.

Photo: Izvestia/Eduard Kornienko

According to the text of the bill, NPOs will have to send information about Russian representatives in their governing bodies within 30 days of registration. It is also proposed to establish that information from the list will have to be provided to the Russian government and federal executive authorities within 10 days from the date of receipt of a request. In other words, the register will make it possible to understand who among government officials is a member of such organizations and takes part in their work, and to whom one can address on certain issues.

According to the results of the consolidated analysis of registered NGOs, which was conducted by the Ministry of Justice, there are about 80 such organizations in Russia, among the founders of which there is the state. According to Pavel Sklyanchuk, head of the Center for Monitoring the Law Enforcement of Legislation, some organizations were established a long time ago, back in the 90s, and there is not always information about their activities in the public domain. Nevertheless, the expert believes that the register is not related to the analysis of the effectiveness of budget spending, as there are mechanisms of the treasury and checks by auditors and prosecutors for this purpose.

- The register of NPOs established by the state will fulfill more of an analytical task, so that their near-state status can be easily confirmed. This may be important for international humanitarian projects in order to avoid situations when public organizations will be passed off as non-governmental structures," the expert said in a conversation with Izvestia.

Photo: Izvestia/Pavel Volkov

Among the organizations that may end up in the register are, for example, the Russian World Foundation, the National Priorities ANO, the Circle of Goodness Foundation and others.

- These are large public operators that create infrastructure for the development of civil society and charity in the country, - added Pavel Sklyanchuk.

At the same time, experts generally agree that the creation of the register will not hinder the work of organizations, as the main purpose of this initiative is the consolidated collection of information.