Yes, but everything is not for the future

“Based on 10 years of experience of Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe, we can make an unambiguous conclusion that our already high contribution to the budget of this organization does not provide an adequate return,” said Sergei Ryabkov, director of the Department of Pan-European Cooperation at the Russian Foreign Ministry. In 2005, the Russian Federation paid over 25.6 million euros for membership in the Council of Europe; in 2006, this amount will exceed 26.3 million euros. These amounts are comparable to the Russian contribution to the UN and are many times higher than contributions to any other international organizations.