Non-profit organizations (NPOs) in Russia

2023

The Government of the Russian Federation will help 490 social NGOs create sites on the Internet

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree approving the rules for information support for socially oriented non-profit organizations (NPOs). In particular, we are talking about creating sites on the Internet.

According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the purpose of information support, in addition to the development of official Internet resources, is to ensure their functioning through the Gosweb subsystem of the unified portal of Public services. In total, it is planned to select 490 socially oriented non-profit organizations that will receive support within three years (with the possibility of extension).

Approved information support rules for socially oriented non-profit organizations (NPOs)

The document also defines the maximum number of NGOs for each region of the country. The largest quota was issued To St. Petersburg - up to 25 organizations, and for,, and LPR DPR Zaporozhskaya Hersonskaya regions - 10 each.

In April 2023, the president Russia Vladimir Putin signed a law supporting socially oriented non-profit organizations. The law provides for the free placement of sites and databases of such NGOs on state-protected ones, and servers also gives the Ministry of Digital Development right to provide access to these non-profit organizations to the free site designer, the platform of the Gosweb ministry.

As the authors of the initiative explained, it is designed to protect the sites of socially oriented NGOs, including those involved in helping the front and new regions, from cyber attacks. Such organizations, as noted, often do not have their own funds and competencies to ensure information security and need support from the state.

In November 2023, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) sent a proposal to the Ministry of Economic Development to simplify the reporting system for NGOs through digitalization of the process. It is proposed to create an electronic platform for NGOs, through which, in a "single window," they will be able to form and send the necessary data and documents to various departments. The platform will also unify the provision of information for obtaining government support measures - subsidies and grants.^[1]

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation asked to create a register of destructive non-profit organizations in the IT sphere

On October 4, 2023, the Commission on Legal Support of the Digital Economy of the Moscow branch of the Russian Bar Association and representatives of domestic IT associations appealed to the Ministry of Digital Development Affairs with a proposal to create a register of destructive non-profit organizations (NPOs) in the IT field. We are talking about structures that do not have divisions in the Russian Federation, and at the same time conduct activities that harm the interests of Russia and the citizens of the country.

According to reports, TASS the document was prepared with the participation of the Association of Computer and Computer Enterprises (information technology APKIT), the Association, ANO and Russoft the Open Source Association of Software Product Developers (ARPP). " Domestic software In addition, representatives of the scientific and legal community, experts of IT companies involved in the implementation of international projects in the field of open and free, software including VK"," Yandex"," and GC, took part in the development BASEALT of the proposal. Angie Aster

A proposal was received to create a register of destructive non-profit organizations (NPOs) in the IT field

At the end of July 2023, the State Duma adopted amendments to the federal law "On Non-Profit Organizations," according to which Russians can participate in the activities of a foreign NGO only from the date of registration of its structural unit in Russia or inclusion of data in the corresponding register of information about a branch or representative office of a foreign NGO. If Russian citizens and companies participate in the activities of NGOs that do not have structural divisions in Russia, then they can be brought to administrative or criminal liability. At the same time, as noted, the law does not explain the concept of "participation in activities," which "creates the possibility of a very wide interpretation of the term." Therefore, it is proposed to create a register of destructive non-profit organizations in the IT sphere. The emergence of such a resource will help reduce the risks of possible criminal prosecution for domestic developers who take part in "bona fide" foreign NGOs.

In addition, the authors of the initiative propose to develop criteria on the basis of which it would be possible to determine whether the activities of foreign NGOs without divisions in the Russian Federation are destructive. We are talking about actions aimed at "violating the security, defense capability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, as well as opposing the foundations of the country's constitutional system and creating political or economic destabilization."^[2]

Ministry of Economic Development creates a single register of NPO-recipients of state support

The Ministry of Economic Development is creating a single register of NPO-recipients of state support. The representative of the department, director of the department for the development of the social sphere and the sector of NGOs Svyatoslav Sorokin, spoke about this in mid-June 2023.

At our different levels - municipal, subject - more than a thousand such registers are maintained. In order to simplify and make the sector transparent, we will bring all this together at the site of the Ministry of Economic Development, "he said.

The Ministry of Economic Development creates a single register of SONKO receiving state support instead of a large number of departmental, regional and other lists

According to Sorokin, the Ministry of Economic Development is creating a single register of SONKO receiving state support instead of a large number of departmental, regional and other lists in order to provide convenience to everyone who works with the non-profit sector.

As noted in the ministry, in order to make it easier for organizations to identify their socially oriented activities, receive support measures and enter the SONKO register, in 2023 the Ministry of Economic Development introduced separate OKVED codes. Thus, codes appeared for the collection and transfer of charitable donations, for the formation of the target capital of NGOs, for environmental protection organizations, human rights organizations and others.

Individuals and companies donating funds to organizations from the SONKO register of the Ministry of Economic Development can receive tax preferences. For individuals, there is a social tax deduction for charity, and for companies, it is possible to set off property donated to certain categories of NGOs on the account of paying income tax.

Speaking about the role of the non-profit sector in the Russian economy, Svyatoslav Sorokin noted that the contribution of NGOs to GDP in 2021 amounted to almost one and a half percent. Including the contribution of SONKO, which are in the register of the Ministry of Economic Development, amounted to 0.59%.^[3]

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