MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/: Kremlin has no comment on the inclusion of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, established by Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, on the list of non-profits recognized as foreign agents, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. He added that the decision is up to the Russian Ministry of Justice.
"Kremlin has no opinion, Kremlin does not make these decisions, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice," he said in response to a request for comment on the decision.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian Justice Ministry informed that Navalny’s foundation had been placed on the register of non-profit organizations acting as foreign agents. "On October 9, based on the federal law "On non-commercial organizations", the non-profit organization "Anti-Corruption Foundation" has been placed on the register of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents by the Russian Ministry of Justice," the ministry stated.
The foundation plans to appeal this decision, its director Ivan Zhdanov told reporters on Wednesday. Earlier, Zhdanov noted that the foundation is financed solely by Russian citizens. "The foundation has never received foreign financing," he wrote on Twitter, adding that the attempt to place the foundation on the register of foreign agents is "another attempt to smother the Anti-Corruption Foundation."
According to the law, non-profit organizations placed on the list of foreign agents must provide a report on their activity and management every six months, as well as the report on their financial activity every year. The organizations are also required to undergo audit every year and provide a report on their activity to the media every six months.
In early August, the Russian Investigative Committee initiated criminal proceedings regarding the financing of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. According to the investigation, since January 2016 until December 2018, people tied to the foundation received significant sums of money in Russian and foreign currency via unlawful means, later legalizing it for the financing of the foundation. The courts froze the accounts of the foundation and the individuals tied to it as part of the investigation proceedings.
