The authorities have not created a website through which “foreign agents” must submit reports to the Ministry of Justice

The Russian authorities have not yet created a service through which “foreign agents” must submit reports to the Ministry of Justice. Presumably, such a service will appear only at the end of 2023. this with reference to a source in the department. reports Kommersant

On April 15, the deadline for filing reports for the second half of 2022 for individuals and organizations recognized as “foreign agents” expired. Moreover, according to amendments to the legislation on “foreign agents” adopted at the end of 2022, documents had to be uploaded to a special portal, which was never created by order of the Ministry of Justice. In particular, one of the report forms - OIA001 - must be uploaded to such a site without fail.

Novosibirsk journalist Pyotr Manyakhin, recognized as a “foreign agent,” told Kommersant that he sent a request to the Ministry of Justice for clarification on how to act in the current situation. According to him, the department has not yet responded to him. At the same time, in response to a request from Kommersant, the Ministry of Justice said that until the service becomes available, “foreign agents” can send paper documents by mail. The agency added that work is currently underway to create a platform for posting reports of “foreign agents”; the service should be operational in December 2023.

Manyakhin himself published the report on his social networks. “When publishing, I acted according to the old rules that were in place before December. I published the report on social networks. Just in case, I posted the report on VKontakte so that you don’t even need to use VPN services to access the information,” the journalist said. Director of the Center for the Protection of Media Rights Galina Arapova also suggested that since the service is not yet ready, “foreign agents” can publish reports on the Internet, as before.