High stakes: how the authorities cut off NGOs from helping those in need
In the Sverdlovsk region, social service providers complain about the actions of the regional Ministry of Social Policy: three organizations, Charity Foundation "I am Special", ANO "Spectrum-M" and IP Syropyatov, were excluded from the register, which allowed them to receive state compensation for providing services to those in need. They claim that this happened shortly after the organizations won cases in court for non-payment of more than 100 million rubles in compensation, and against the background of proceedings about low tariffs for the provision of social services in the region. More than 900 families with children with mental disabilities may find themselves without the usual help. Izvestia investigated how the possibility of providing social services to children with disabilities by non-profit organizations became dependent on regional authorities.
The essence of the conflict
The orders of Andrei Zlokazov, Minister of Social Policy of the Sverdlovsk Region, to exclude from the register three organizations that had formed a Union of social service providers, were issued on March 26. Shortly before that, at the end of 2024, suppliers won a two-year legal dispute over non-payment of compensation by the Ministry of Social Policy: in February 2023, officials stopped paying money for social services provided, citing errors in reports, but two years later, after the court decision, the Ministry of Social Policy had to pay organizations more than 100 million rubles.
"With this money, we are now paying off specialists for the work they did back in 2023," Alexandrina Khaitova, president of the I am Special Foundation, told Izvestia. — During this time, dozens of rare teachers have left the field: neuropsychologists, defectologists, who worked with children with mental disabilities.
Soon after the money was paid, all three organizations were removed from the register, she says. This cut them off from the opportunity to receive compensation from the region for providing services to those in need.
Meanwhile, court sessions continued on another dispute, which was opened by the Spectrum-M organization — about the amount of regional tariffs for the provision of social services. Providers believe that the payment for social services is significantly underestimated. According to them, the cost of one lesson with a child was sometimes estimated by the ministry at 1 ruble, 8 rubles, 31 rubles. In May, the second Court of Appeal of General jurisdiction in St. Petersburg found the process of adopting tariffs for social services in the Sverdlovsk Region inconsistent with the provisions of Law No. 442 "On the Basics of Social Services for Citizens in the Russian Federation," according to which tariffs in the regions should be calculated on the basis of federal regulations.
Pavel Akulov, a lawyer at the I am Special Foundation and the founder of Spectrum-M, explains that in court, officials explicitly stated that they did not rely on the size of per capita standards, the real economic situation and other indicators, as required by 442-FZ, but "just look at the name of the services." The court recognized that using only the name of the service "contradicts the intended purpose of setting tariffs." In fact, it was determined that tariffs had been incorrectly set since 2015.
Why were organizations excluded from the registry?
The organizations are sure that they were excluded from the register under a far-fetched pretext. Pavel Akulov notes that the act refers to the alleged non-compliance with SanPiN in buildings where classes are held.
"But these same buildings and premises were included in the register based on the results of previous inspections, and everything was fine," he told Izvestia. — We do not agree with this decision, we will appeal it, but it is a long process.
While the appeal is underway, all three organizations have asked the government of the Sverdlovsk region to provide them with a room where they can continue their studies — after all, we are talking about helping children from more than 900 families.
Representatives of the organizations have contacted both Acting Governor Denis Pasler and Ural Federal District Envoy Artem Zhoga, but have not yet received responses.
— It follows from the report of the Accounts Chamber that only half of all disabled and orphaned children in the Sverdlovsk region are currently covered by social services, so other organizations will not replace the amount of assistance that we provided, — says Alexandrina Khaitova. — Currently, we continue to provide social services for those teachers who are willing to wait. We informed them that we are now challenging the decision, and we are also looking for a room that will satisfy the ministry in order to return to the registry and continue providing services to children.
Alexandrina Khaitova believes that the reason why such a struggle has unfolded against organizations is the fact that their "effectiveness is 5-8 times higher than the effectiveness of the state center" established by the Ministry of Social Policy, which is also on the register of social service providers and provides assistance to those in need.
The Department of Information Policy of the Sverdlovsk Region told Izvestia that the decision of the Ministry of Social Policy to exclude three organizations from the register of social service providers was made due to "the identification of unreliable information."
— In particular, information was found to be unreliable that the premises in which these organizations and individual entrepreneurs are located are fully adapted for all low-mobility groups of the population, the availability of a specially equipped office with furniture and equipment necessary for the provision of social services, and the availability of free places. The applicants were informed about these violations, the Sverdlovsk government said.
It is also noted that there are 135 organizations in the register of social service providers in the Sverdlovsk region, four of which are rehabilitation centers for children with disabilities, 64 social assistance centers for families and children, including those helping children with autism spectrum disorders, which I am Special also deals with. 66 organizations in the register are non—governmental, of which 21 commercial and 11 non-profit organizations applied for compensation as of June 1, 2025. They were paid more than 197 million rubles.
The situation with tariffs was not actually commented on in response to the request, specifying only that they are approved by the Regional Energy Commission of the Sverdlovsk region.
Alexandrina Khaitova expressed confidence that suppliers will be able to challenge the ministry's decision in the courts, as it happened before. In the meantime, organizations are asking for a room to be allocated to them so as not to leave children without help due to disagreements between the social service provider and the regulatory government agency.
How regions finance social service providers
Alexander Gaganov, a lawyer for the Region of Care project of the Popular Front, notes that, judging by the data of the Arbiter Management Board, not all non-governmental suppliers in the Sverdlovsk region sued the ministry for non-payment of subsidies.
— This may mean that it is acceptable for these suppliers to work under the cost compensation scheme. And if we are talking about charitable foundations, then the continuation of their activities should not depend solely on receiving budget subsidies as providers of social services," the Izvestia interlocutor believes.
Alexander Gaganov believes that the system of compensation for the provision of social services in the regions is transparent and regulated by federal legislation and regulatory legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation. At the same time, per capita standards for financing services, he emphasizes, are set by the regions independently.
Other experts note that initially the system of including the non-governmental sector in the provision of social services within the framework of 442-FZ was conceived differently than it currently works in reality.
Svetlana Mamonova, Director of External Relations at the St. Petersburg charity Perspektivy, a member of the Alliance of Professional Organizations "The Value of Everyone", talks about this using the example of the situation in St. Petersburg.
— On the one hand, we note that from year to year the total funding from the region increases for us due to the increase in tariffs and the number of recipients of services, — she said. — However, there is no real transparent competition between the state and non-state sectors.
It was assumed that a person who was recognized as in need of assistance received an individual social services program (IPSU), which specified the amount of necessary assistance and the form of service (home-based, semi-stationary or inpatient). Each service has a specific tariff, which makes up the total cost of the program — approximately 80 thousand rubles. Then the recipient of the services must choose for himself which organization he will apply to — state or non-state. Thus, on a competitive basis, these 80 thousand NGOs providing services could also receive rubles.
"However, in practice, the allocation of funds is highly controlled: each region is thinking of ways to reduce financing for the provision of services," says Svetlana Mamonova. — As a result, a person goes to an NGO, but with state compensation not in 80 thousand, but, for example, in 10 or 50 thousand rubles. A non-governmental organization in St. Petersburg has no guarantees, but it will receive guaranteed state funding.
Then another limitation appeared — financing began to be carried out not according to the total cost of IPPS (the volume of services multiplied by their cost according to tariffs), but according to the costs of the organization. This is a very bureaucratic process that often simply cannot take into account the uniqueness of the services provided. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to meet all government requirements for reporting real expenses. This is especially true for employee compensation. As a result, the social service provider receives only part of the funding from the required amount as regional compensation — for "Prospects" this is usually about a third — and the rest has to be searched for independently.
Pavel Kantor, a lawyer with the legal group of the Center for Curative Pedagogy, a regional charitable public organization, notes that in some regions the compensation amounts are "anecdotally small," in others, especially for certain types or forms of services, they may be "more meaningful," especially if relevant NGOs are working with regional authorities on this issue.
—But basically the amount of compensation is insufficient, and most importantly, the regional authorities are not very fond of following the rules of the game, that is, they can suddenly reduce or stop financing in one direction or another," he told Izvestia.
Svetlana Mamonova adds that in many regions this rule is explicitly fixed: if there is no money in the budget, non-governmental service providers do not receive funding. She considers this norm unacceptable.
Alexander Gaganov points out such precedents, but notes that suppliers usually go to court only if absolutely necessary or if there are significant delays.
"In the Nizhny Novgorod region, for example, the subsidy limit for all non—governmental suppliers in 2025 was 95-98 million rubles per month, and only a few suppliers claim compensation of more than 5 million rubles (3 out of 46 suppliers in May)," he said. — The amounts of compensation claimed by these NGOs in the Sverdlovsk region are quite high, which may have led to the conflict.
How common is the problem
Regional authorities independently establish the procedure for maintaining the register of social service providers, which may vary depending on the subject. Alexander Gaganov notes that there are no high-profile stories of exclusion from the register of suppliers, as in Yekaterinburg, therefore it cannot be argued that abuses in this area are widespread.
Pavel Kantor notes, however, that NGOs, working closely with regional authorities in various areas, do not want to quarrel with them, and this explains the low number of public disputes with a large number of problems in the issue of compensation payments. He notes that regional authorities have the ability to put pressure on suppliers in the event of a conflict, setting their own rules for them or even violating them. This problem is widespread and widespread, the expert is sure.
Pavel Kantor emphasizes that non-profit organizations have repeatedly raised the issue of administrative barriers for non-governmental suppliers at the federal level.
"By and large, changes for the better can occur only when there is a strong community of NGOs or representatives of target groups in the region — disabled people, pensioners, etc. — who systematically interact with local authorities," he added.
Nina Polichka, director of the Far Eastern Scientific Center for Local Self-Government, notes that the principle of "equal free access of citizens to social services regardless of their place of residence" is enshrined in 442-FZ.
"But at the same time, the federal authorized body does not regulate the activities of the regions, and each subject of the Russian Federation determines the list of services, their standards, financial regulations, etc.," she told Izvestia. — Obviously, with such a division of powers and freedom of action of regional authorities, it is impossible to ensure equal and uniform social conditions for all citizens.
She believes that either federal and regional powers in social services should be adjusted along the lines of education and healthcare, or the principle of equal free access to social services should be removed from 442-FZ altogether.
The Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation emphasized that general principles for the provision of social services are established at the federal level, and their provision, the definition of a list, the setting of tariffs for their payment, and the procedure for financing socially oriented NGOs are exclusively regional powers. The Ministry of Labor added that in the Sverdlovsk region, tariffs for social services were canceled by the court as unjustifiably established. You can also challenge the actions of the regional authorities on the supplier registry in court.
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