Translated material
The Ministry of Justice recognized the Levada Center as a “foreign agent”
The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation has included the research organization "Yuri Levada Analytical Center" in the register of NGOs acting as a foreign agent.
Alexei Grazhdankin, deputy director of the Levada Center, told Interfax that the status of a foreign agent "will create certain difficulties in terms of interaction with other organizations", but "will not critically affect" the work of the organization. “We are focused primarily on the domestic Russian client, we are reducing the number of contracts with foreign clients and we hope that this status will be removed from us,” he said.
In turn, the head of the center, Lev Gudkov , told Dozhd that the decision could mean "winding down and stopping the activities of the Levada Center."
to recognize the Levada Center as a “foreign agent” Earlier, the Ministry of Justice asked the Anti-Maidan movement . The organization considered that the center conducts research “through the US Department of Defense on behalf of the University of Wisconsin.” The director of the Levada Center, Lev Gudkov, then said that cooperation with the University of Wisconsin had nothing to do with the American military department.
The fact that the organization complied with the characteristics of a non-profit organization performing the functions of a foreign agent was established during an unscheduled documentary check by the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of Russia for Moscow.
- The status of "foreign agent" is assigned to those non-profit organizations that, according to the Ministry of Justice, receive funding from abroad and at the same time are engaged in political activities. Such NPOs are required to report that they are a "foreign agent" and are also forced to submit reports and undergo audits more often, which greatly complicates their activities.
- In 2016, a law was adopted that clarifies the concept of political activities of NGOs. In particular, it was decided to include “the formation of socio-political views through opinion polls” in this category.
- The Yuri Levada Analytical Center (Levada Center) is one of the three largest public opinion research organizations in Russia, along with the state-run VCIOM and the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM).