28.11.2005
**Update - the bill considered in this compendium has now passed the Duma and is expected to quickly pass the Federation Council and be signed into law. Read an article about the latest developments here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Russian Parliament is now debating a bill to provide "greater oversight" of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Russia. Officially, the bill is part of Russia's anti-terrorism measures, meant to curb money laundering and foreign funding of political activities inside Russia. In this context, the bill is within the logical and constitutional powers of the Russian government. However, the bill's opponents claim that it is written in vague language (as are most Russian laws) so that officials can interpret and enforce it as they see fit. Therefore, the opposition continues, in a country where the average business pays $135,000 a year in a bribes (according to a Kremlin study) and where democracy has seen increasing obstacles (according to nearly everyone), such oversight is a bit like asking the fox to guard the hen.  The bill is currently awaiting its second reading in Parliament. (The Duma Building, where parliament meets, is pictured left.)
The following reader is provided as an introduction to the controversy, especially to students interested in serving internships with and/or later working in Russian NGOs. While SRAS does not expect these new measures to greatly interfere with its internship programs or NGO Scholarship Program, understanding the current status of NGOs in Russia is a prerequisite for effectively serving them. If you have questions or comments, please send them to jwilson@sras.org. The most pertinent of these comments will be posted to a special page, linked from this reader. Reading #1 (link to text)
This concise report from the BBC, printed on 11-23-05, provides a general overview of the bill and the issues surrounding it. Reading #2 (link to text)
This report from Echo Moskvi, broadcast on 11-25-05, effectively supplements the BBC report in Reading #1 with more information about the politics behind the bill. Reading #3 (link to text)
This report from National Public Radio gives a wide range of views directly from a number of politicians in Moscow. Reading #4 (link to text)
Originally printed in the Russian newspaper Kommersant on 11-25-05, this article gives a report of the bill and the developments concerning it in a decidedly pro-Kremlin voice (note the respect paid to President Putin and the constant references to the Kremlin's willingness to compromise and negotiate). Also of interest is the Russian perspective of the reaction the bill has gotten from the American government. Reading #5 (link to text)
Originally printed by the Los Angeles Times on 11-19-05, this article concentrates on possible abuses the law might see by discussing those that have already occurred with such organizations as Open Russia and Memorial. It also mentions implications that the law might have for international politics and Russia's involvement in the G8. Reading #6 (link to text)
Kommersant reported on 12-01-05 that a full delegation is coming to Moscow from Washington to lobby against the new law on NGOs (refered to here as NCOs). They are armed with the ability to "release the seal of silence from the White House" and to prolong the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, hampering trade between Russia and the US. Reading #7 (link to site)
This is an official report by the NGO Human Rights Watch about the issue.
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BBC
November 23, 2005
RUSSIAN MPS ACT TO "CURB" NGOS (back to top) Russia's lower house of parliament has backed in principle a bill that will give the state greater control over non-governmental organisations. In a 370-18 vote, the State Duma approved in the first reading the bill that would require all NGOs to re-register with a state commission. The bill's sponsors say the aim is to prevent money laundering and improve financial oversight. NGOs say it will significantly curb their activities. More than 1,000 NGOs have been urging the house to reject the bill. It is clear that the Kremlin is determined to crack down on politically-active NGOs who receive foreign money for fear they might help foment Ukraine's style Orange Revolution in Russia, the BBC's Emma Simpson reports from Moscow. The debate in the Duma comes just months after President Vladimir Putin announced that he would not allow foreign funding of political activities in Russia. Procedurally, the bill will have to go for further readings in the Duma and will require presidential signature to become law. 'Sane law' Some 1,300 NGOs on Tuesday issued a statement said the bill "hinders the development of civil society" in Russia. The statement said that the proposed legislation would particularly target human rights organisations. Lawyers for the big foreign groups - like Human Rights Watch - believe international organisations will no longer be able to have branch offices in Russia, our correspondent says. Instead, they would have to register as independent Russian legal entities, a condition that many NGOs will find difficult to meet, she says. But the authors of the bill reject such criticism as unfounded, saying they simply want to extend checks standard for political parties to NGOs. "This is an absolutely fine and an absolutely sane law. All these cries from its opponents have no relation to the actual law because the law does nothing but establish order," MP Andrei Makarov told Reuters news agency. There are about 300,000 NGOs currently operating in Russia. (back to top) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading #2
Ekho Moskvy Radio, BBC Monitoring
November 23, 2005
BILL ON NGO REGISTRATION PASSES FIRST READING IN RUSSIAN DUMA (back to top) [Presenter] Not a single faction in the State Duma has opposed a law tightening up the registration rules for nonprofit and public organizations. Only a handful of independent deputies voted against the document, saying they categorically disagreed with the provisions of the new law. Our parliamentary correspondent Inessa Zemler watched the discussion in Okhotnyy Ryad [a street in Moscow, home to the State Duma]. [Correspondent] The authors of the law, who included representatives of all Duma factions, were wondering: where did the press and human rights groups find restrictions on the rights of nonprofit and public organizations? On the contrary, the deputies argued, the document protects them from officials' arbitrariness. After all, even now no-one can stop them baiting an organization they don't like with taxmen, firemen or public health inspectors. Let me explain that the bill contains a special clause relating to these checks. However, what raised more questions from the independent deputies who took upon themselves to represent the unhappy organizations was the provisions regulating the registration process, and refusal to register. It has to be said that the Duma majority did agree with some of the objections and promised that when the bill was refined for the second reading, the provisions that are most open to possible arbitrary actions by officials would be studied carefully. On the whole, however, the deputies could not see any threats to public and nonprofit organizations. [Presenter] The second reading of the bill will be held quite soon, in early December. (back to top) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading #3
National Public Radio (NPR)
November 24, 2005
RUSSIA TIGHTENS GRIP ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL GROUPS (back to top) RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Russia has taken another step toward limiting the activities of human rights groups and charities. Yesterday, the country's parliament voted to give the Kremlin greater control over non-governmental organizations. NGOs say it's the latest step in President Vladimir Putin's drive to crack down on his critics. NPR's Gregory Feifer has more from Moscow. GREGORY FEIFER reporting: Last July, Vladimir Putin attacked what he called the political activities of foreign-funded NGOs. Putin says, ”He who pays the piper calls the tune.” The Kremlin has criticized the support given by the West to opposition groups in countries like Georgia and Ukraine, both former Soviet states that recently overthrew Moscow-backed administrations. Before the vote yesterday, Nationalist legislator Alksa Mutrifanif(ph) said even groups like Greenpeace should be put under government control. Mr. ALKSA MUTRIFANIF (Nationalist Legislator, Russia): They try to interfere in the economic affairs of the Russian Federation. FEIFER: The new law would increase state supervision and require the country's over 300,000 NGOs to re-register with the government. It would also bar foreign NGOs from working in Russia directly and restrict Russian groups' ability to hire foreigners or accept foreign money. The bill supporters say it would only ban groups engaged in criminal activities. Yigori Ugoshin(ph) is a member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. He said many NGOs launder money for organized criminal groups. Mr. YIGORI UGOSHIN (Member, United Russia Party): (Through Translator) If everything's OK and you're not violating the law, if you're not dealing with criminals and you're not laundering criminal money, why would you be afraid to give information about what you're doing? Why would you be afraid to register yourself? FEIFER: Some legislators called the bill unconstitutional. Liberal member of parliament Vladimir Ryzhkov criticized the legislation from the parliament's floor. He said it's aimed at decimating Russia's civil society. Mr. VLADIMIR RYZHKOV (Liberal Member, Russian Parliament): (Through Translator) I'm talking about those organizations that today and every day are fighting AIDS, fighting tuberculosis or trying to preserve the environment. It's precisely those groups that will be destroyed. They will be the ones to suffer. FEIFER: Before the voting, a tight ring of police surrounded the area in front of the parliament building to stop a planned demonstration. (Soundbite from demonstration) Protesters: (Russian spoken) FEIFER: But only eight young protesters showed up to brave the freezing gray conditions outside. They shouted, “We won't allow it,” and, “Freedom of association.” Yvonne Nininko(ph) of the environmental group Graza(ph) was one of the eight. He says the new bill is aimed at helping the Kremlin consolidate power. Mr. YVONNE NININKO (Graza): (Through Translator) Considering the current political situation, one can imagine that any activity will be controlled from above, including even non-political actions. FEIFER: Under Putin, the state has taken control over most major media outlets, canceled gubernatorial elections and wrested control of private industries. This week, the government announced it would give selected NGOs over $17 million. Protesters say the move would enable the Kremlin to create the illusion it's actually fostering civil society. Tatiana Lokshina heads Moscow's Demos human rights group. She says Putin's administration has crushed Democratic politics and is now going after what's left. Ms. TATIANA LOKSHINA (Demos Human Rights Group): (Through Translator) In this case, authorities are trying to destroy any space for public discourse, and that in itself is very frightening. FEIFER: Other countries have expressed concern. White House officials said US President George Bush raised the issue when he met Putin in South Korea last week. Parliament voted 370-to-18 in favor of the bill, but it must still pass two more readings early next month. Most expect the legislation to take effect in January of next year. Gregory Feifer, NPR News, Moscow. (back to top) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading #4
Kommersant
November 25, 2005
PUTIN TAKES ON SOCIAL FINANCING
By Dmitry Kamyshev, Mikhail Zygar, Irina Nagornykh, Viktor Khamraev (back to top)
Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear yesterday that the government will accept the strict control over the activities of public associations and noncommercial groups proposed in the amendments passed by the State Duma to a number of federal laws. He again stated that "the financing of political activity from abroad should be within the field of vision of the government." Thus, as Kommersant has already suggested, the Kremlin is ready to make small concessions in order to hold on to the lever of state control over citizens' joint public activities. According to information obtained by Kommersant, that goal was placed before the Security Council some time ago. Putin made a programmatic statement of state policy toward nonprofit organizations at a meeting with Ella Pamphilova, chairman of the President's Council on Cooperation in Developing Institutions of Civic Society and Human Rights. Pamphilova expressed her concern over amendments to the law "On Public Associations" and "On Noncommercial Organizations" passed in their first reading the day before by the Duma that would increase state control over the ctivities of those organizations. Putin replied that he would discuss the situation with the Duma leadership, "so that no steps in this sphere cause damage to civic society in Russia." He added decisively that "political activity in Russia should be maximally transparent and that means that all questions connected with the financing of political activity should be maximally transparent. In this connection, continuing financing from abroad of political activities in Russia should be within the field of vision of the government. Especially if it comes through government channels from other countries and those organizations functioning in Russia and engaged in political activities are in essence being used as instruments of the foreign policy of foreign states." Through all Putin's customary verbal flourishes, his point is clear. The Kremlin is ready to make certain compromises to soften the controversial amendments, but it will not under any circumstances give up its primary goal, taking control of all public and noncommercial organizations, whether that segment of society likes it or not. The draft law "On Introducing Changes to Several Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation," which has been passed in its first reading, in particular proposes a prohibition on the foundation of or membership in noncommercial organizations by foreigners who do not live permanently in
the Russian Federation of by persons without citizenship. It also increases the number of reasons to refuse to register the organizations and gives registration agencies the right to demand to see the organizations' financial documents and audit their expenses for conformity to their chartered goals. Public associations that do not have the status of a legal entity will be required to inform registration agencies of their foundation. The president's unbending position on these issues is directly related to issue of a "color revolution" in Russia, which the Kremlin views as one of its greatest political threats. Kommersant has obtained information that the topic of how to resist the "color threat" has been discussed at length in the tradition Saturday meetings between the president and the Security Council and noncommercial organizations have been identified as one of the main channels for the spread of the "color infection." Kommersant's information indicated that the council has developed specific countermeasures, which include taking full stock of the noncommercial organizations active in Russia and toughening laws that regulate their activities in order to prevent any "destabilizing activities" by public groups. That legislation was met with immediate disapproval in the West. Washington took an interest in the amendments long before they were passed. As the Chicago Tribune reported this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is personally following developments with the amendments and raises the issue in every conversation she has with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Last week, Republican Congressman Jack Kemp and Democratic Senator John Edwards wrote a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush charging that the amendments "completely eliminate pluralism in Russia and contact between our societies." They are demanding that Bush raise the topic in his discussion with Putin at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and protest the amendments "in extremely explicit terms." "That law opens up an unthinkable perspective: Russia can be the chairman of the Big Eight and at the same time pass laws srangling all ties with the world community," Edwards and Kemp said. Bush did touch on the issue in the negotiations at Busan but, it seems, not too explicitly or convincingly. A Kommersant source at the U.S. State Department said that the presidents were unable to discussion the issue in full because Bush failed to show the necessary insistence. Nonetheless, official U.S. State Department representative Tom Case stated yesterday that Washington is concerned over the first reading of the bill and everyone there is counting on the bill not being passed. Those hopes are obviously unfounded. In the best case, the Kremlin will agree to soften the amendments to show its willingness to listen to public opinion, as personified, for example, by the Public Chamber, 21 members of which have appealed to Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov to delay the discussion of the bill until the Chamber is fully formed. Elena Zelinskaya, Chamber member and vice president of Mediasoyuz, confirmed to Kommersant that 84 current members of the Chamber intend to add their support to the request at the next session express their objection to the "rushed discussion" of the controversial amendments. At her meeting with Putin yesterday, Pamphilova placed her hopes not so much on the deputies as on the president. "The president is absolutely ready to meet halfway," she told Kommersant." At our meeting, I tried to tell him in detail about the danger of the law, which, in its present form, would be practically an irremediable blow to civic society. In the introduction, it says that the law is being passed with the aim of stabilization. But that is not real stabilization." Maria Slobodskaya, head of the Institute for the Problems of Civic Society and member of the Public hamber, also suggested that the president intends to meet public associations halfway. "But a strange situation arises," she said, "when the president founds the Public Chamber and the main draft law for it is left beyond its field of vision." Representatives of the Duma majority told Kommersant that they would adhere to the president's opinion. One of the authors of the amendments, Chairman of the Dumas Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev, told Kommersant that every that Putin has said "corresponds to the conception of the bill." The amendments' opponents, in his view, are objected to "specific clauses" that can be changed in the second reading since they are not conceptually meaningful. The amendments' opponents have no doubts about the immutability of the conception of the amendments. Independent deputy Viktor Pokhmelkin, an opponent of the bill, said, "They'll sweeten the bill, but that won't change the essence of the law." Members of public associations agree with him. They say that the main idea of the law, the imposition of control over civic organizations, is contained in it conception and the law contains no other substantial content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading #5
The Los Angeles Times
November 19, 2005
IN RUSSIA, PRO-DEMOCRACY GROUPS HEAR TICK-TICK-TICK
By Kim Murphy (back to top) Employees of Open Russia, the nonprofit, pro-democracy charitable foundation established by jailed oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, came to work one morning in October to find a police bus parked outside, along with two minivans marked "Prosecutor General's Office." A dozen investigators swarmed out of the buses and proceeded to seal off the building. Authorities said they were looking for evidence of money laundering. But foundation directors came to believe they were being targeted for something else: promoting an independent electorate and a free press. The detectives left 10 hours later, loaded with all the data from the foundation's computers and five bags of documents. But there was little new evidence to find. Open Russia, one of the instruments of Khodorkovsky's campaign to end government repression, already had been the subject of 21 different government examinations in the last two years. "Tax inspections. Ministry of Justice inspections. Social Security Fund inspections. Labor inspections. Anybody who can control anybody was here to control us," said program director Irina Yasina. Then the government brought out the big guns. Russia's parliament on Wednesday is scheduled to consider a bill that would dramatically increase government supervision over an estimated 400,000 foundations and impose new restrictions that could put Open Russia and hundreds of other groups out of business. Many analysts say the bill is a cornerstone in the Kremlin's move to control virtually all levels of public discourse. In what many see as a step back toward the Soviet era, President Vladimir V. Putin has moved to centralize his authority over parliament, the media, courts and regional
governments. The proposed legislation would add to the list one of the last independent sectors in public life civil institutions. Its chief target, analysts said, is nongovernmental organizations funded by the West that promote democracy, and that the Kremlin perceives as encouraging an Orange Revolution-style uprising, like the kind that toppled the governments of neighboring Ukraine and Georgia. Already, millions of dollars in U.S. Agency for International Development grants earmarked for democracy and good-government foundations have been held up under separate regulations governing tax exemptions. In September, the former Moscow director of the U.S. National Democratic Institute was blocked from entering the country. She was admitted only after the U.S. Embassy intervened. "The new draft law on NGOs is targeted at what is perceived to be 'revolutionary activity,' or the alleged role of foreign organizations in instigating public protests and popular revolutions," said Yuri Dzhibladze, president of the Moscow-based Center for the Development of Democracy and
Human Rights, which receives about a third of its funding from USAID and the European Union. Analysts said international organizations as diverse as Human Rights Watch, the National Democratic Institute, and anti-AIDS and environmental groups could in effect be prevented from operating in Russia. "Under this law it would be very questionable whether we would be able to register our office in any form," said Diederik Lohman, senior researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch. Outside Russia, the legislation is considered by many to be a retreat into isolationism at a time when Russia is scheduled to take over chairmanship of the Group of 8 industrialized nations. "It raises an almost unthinkable prospect that the president of Russia might serve as chairman of the G-8 at the same time that laws come into force in this country to choke off contacts with global society," former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and former Housing and Development Secretary Jack Kemp, who are leading a bipartisan task force on U.S.-Russian policy for the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a letter this week to President Bush. But sponsoring legislators said the bill was aimed at businesses trying to launder profits, extremist groups and foreigners seeking to destabilize the political situation. The legislation would allow the government, for example, to restrict the activities of a foreign environmental group working near secret Russian military installations, said co-sponsor Alexander Chuyev, deputy chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Nongovernment and Religious Organizations. "I would not be surprised if a majority of employees of these organizations was working for the interests of other countries," Chuyev said. In addition to requiring registration and oversight of all NGOs, the bill would prohibit foreigners without residency permits from working at NGOs and prevent foreign groups from operating in Russia unless they could reinvent themselves as local organizations. Open Russia could be closed under provisions prohibiting convicts and people suspected of money laundering from founding NGOs: Khodorkovsky was convicted this year of fraud and tax evasion, and is also the subject of a separate $7-billion money laundering investigation. But Open Russia leaders believe the government's interest in the organization has more to do with the group's work promoting a democratic society. "We are trying to awaken in people a desire to learn, to always know an alternative point of view," said Yasina, the Open Russia chief. The human rights group Memorial, which has sharply criticized abuses by law enforcement and the military, also has been targeted. Russian officials demanded an exhaustive series of tax inspections. "They stayed on endlessly, were presented with everything they asked for, then returned for more," said Oleg Orlov, Memorial's chairman. Now, the organization has been told to expect a major claim for allegedly unpaid taxes. Officials have accused Western-funded NGOs of helping to mobilize the student groups and activists who have toppled at least three post-Soviet governments in the last three years. "I don't think anyone's trying to promote an Orange Revolution in Russia," said Catherine Osgood of the U.S.-based Freedom House, which funds internships for Russian students in European think tanks and NGOs. "I think the primary goal of foreign NGOs is to help strengthen Russian civil society." In an odd twist, the ruling United Russia party on Friday pushed through a $17.4-million appropriation to fund NGOs promoting "civil society and the development of democracy" in nations outside Russia. "In a number of states, human rights are violated . including violations during so-called Orange Revolutions, and Russia intends to pursue a focused policy on these issues," Vladimir Pekhtin, deputy head of the ruling partyin parliament, said in an interview. President Bush raised the NGO issue in a meeting with Putin on Friday in South Korea, but national security advisor Stephen Hadley later declined to elaborate. "It's a confidential discussion between two leaders, and sometimes there are issues which can more productively be discussed outside of public view," Hadley said. Members of NGOs have urged the U.S. to take a strong stand. "Maybe the goal of democracy can be put on a shelf, given all the other burning issues the two countries have to discuss," said Andrei Kortunov, president of the New Eurasia Foundation. "Or maybe they believe this low-key approach is best. As someone told me, no one has been put in jail. Nothing apocalyptic has happened yet. There's no reason to bring in the heavy artillery yet." Times staff writers Sergei L. Loiko and Natasha Yefimova in Moscow and Peter Wallsten in Pusan, South Korea, contributed to this report. (back to top) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading #6
Kommersant
December 1, 2005
NON-FOREIGN-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS
By Dmitry Sidorov (back to top) Today, Nicholas Burns, US Under Secretary of State for political issues, is coming to Moscow. As the State Department's official statement says, he is coming to conduct negotiations about the joint fight with terrorism. However, as Kommersant has found out, the whole delegation of high-ranking representatives from the US State Department is flying to Moscow. Their main goal of their visit is to tell Russian authorities that Washington does not accept a new Russian law about non-commercial organizations, which was approved by the Duma on Nov.23 in the first reading. Kommersant's special correspondent in Washington DMITRY SIDOROV reports the details.
Yesterday, the US Ambassador in the Russian Federation William Burns said the visit of Under Secretary of State for political issues Nicholas Burns is connected to Russian-American working group for the fight with terrorism session the scheduled Friday. "This would be 14th session of the working group," the Ambassador said. However, as Kommersant found out, Nicholas Burns also has to accomplish in Russia another delicate mission.
According to Kommersant, last Monday there was a special meeting held in the US State Department about the coming visit of Nicholas Burns to Moscow. At the meeting there was Under Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Daniel Freed together with his aide, David Kreimer. Kremeir also is arriving in Moscow as a part of the American delegation. The main subject for the meeting became the recent adoption of the amendments to the law about non-commercial organizations (NCO), which was adopted by the Russian Duma in the first reading.
"The leadership of the State Department was outraged with the content of the law about NCOs in Russia, which, in fact, closes the possibility of foreign financing," the source in Washington told Kommersant. "If before we were pretending that Russia is our partner, and the Kremlin was pretending that it cooperates with us -- now Russians don't even want to play this game anymore," he explained. "After the creation of a virtual parliament with practically no independent political parties, now they are offering us virtual NCOs, which will be financed by the Russian government." Because of that, "Burns and Kreimer will be insisting in Moscow that the adoption of the law in its current state will release the seal of silence from the White House about what the Putin Administration is doing inside of Russia, as well as with its CIS members," the source told Kommersant.
The reaction of the State Department on the law about NCOs followed after the serious pressure on the Administration and the US Congress by various American non-government organizations, including groups for economic exchange, human rights and religious organizations such as Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. The independent Council for International Relations (CIR) of New York also joined them. Already on Nov.18, in the day when George Bush met with Vladimir Putin in South Korea, the heads of CIR, former candidates for the US President John Edwards and Jack Kemp, sent an open letter to President Bush about the project of Russian law about NCOs. They asked the US President "to use his meeting with President Putin for sincere discussion of the subject." "If the submitted proposal about NCOs will become a law, the Russian government will get the opportunity to close non-government organizations just because their views and actions would not be suitable for the government," the letter said.
Sources in Washington think that Bush and Putin did talk about the matters because of the amendments that were immediately proposed for the law. However, this visit of high-ranking US officials in Russia shows that President Bush is not quite satisfied with the results of his conversation with his Russian friend. The US Congress always had more opportunities to speak openly than the White House Administration because the political responsibility of congressmen and senators is much lower than government official's. Beside, Congress has one more reason to criticize the Kremlin for the law about NCOs. According to the opinion of several experts, the document that is being discussed by the Duma, "closes a possibility of control over the Nunn-Lugar program by NCO's." The program is designed to help with the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. In the beginning of November, the US Defense Ministry allocated $416 million per year for this program.
One of the initiators of this program and head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Richard Lugar so far did not comment about the project of the law about NCOs in the Russian Federation. The comments were made by Tom Lantos, who is famous for his human rights actions. In his comments, which the Congressman sent through e-mail especially for Kommersant, he said that "Putin's Russia is continuing to move backwards and sees any organization out of the government control as a threat. The last attempt to prohibit the activities of independent groups serves as additional proof that Russia does not deserve its participation in the meetings with democratic and industrially developed G7 countries."
Lantos' point of view partially goes together with an opinion of Kommersant's source, who is close to White House. "President Putin wants Russia's chairmanship in G8 to go mostly with discussion of world energy problems. However, if the law about NCOs will be adopted in its current state, the participants of the G8 session might never get to discuss the economic problems."
The Kommersant source also pointed out that "the scandal around the project of the law about NCOs can seriously affect the negotiations between the USA and Russia about Moscow's membership in the World Trade Organization.
Most likely, Congress can use as a pressure tool a refusal to eliminate the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which was introduced in 1974. This amendment still prevents the establishment of normal trade relations between the two countries. "Presidents Bush and Putin will be even if one would say:' I did all I could but the Duma still adopted the law about NCOs,' and another would answer: 'I tried to persuade the Congress to lift Jackson-Vanik control over Nunn-Lugar program Amendment, but it didn't happen," one of the experts in Washington said.
Despite the brewing scandal, the majority of Kommersant sources in Washington are united in their opinion that the trip of high-ranking officials from State Department to Moscow, will not leave much impression. Questions or comments about this article? Contact the author.
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