The money is mild

"New Gazeta", along with the project "Tenderoscope", sorted out how much the "Russian spirit" of the Kremlin foreign policy costs

- We lie down on this carpet, relax, take a nap of an hour! - The brothers say.

- No, brothers, it will not be soft to lie on this carpet! - Ivan answers them.

Brothers were angry at him:

- What kind of indicator you are to us: it is impossible, another cannot!

Ivan did not say in response. He took off his sash, threw it on the carpet. The sash flashed with a flame and burned down.

- That's the same with you! - says Ivan to the brothers.

Ivan-Krestyansk son and Miracle Yudo (Russian folk tale)

Come Back to Russia

In the summer of 2025, when the Russian army waged military operations in Ukraine as part of the “fight against Nazism” proclaimed by President Putin, Frosya from the sleeping region not Kiev, and Moscow recorded a video message . On it, she was in tears and in blood: “They scream constantly - neighbors - at me. Today I attacked directly with a fist. I'm with the child. Straight fist in the face. An adult is a big man. I attacked me: "I will destroy you, black -skinned!"

According to the documents of Frosya, not so much Efrosinya as Francin Bonaverovna Villa-Ghang, or just Francin Villa. Her grandfather George Tains in the 30s came to the Soviet Union to escape from the consequences of the great depression, but in the end in the USSR he also had to escape from suspicions of relations with foreign intelligence. Here he met a young Ukrainian from a family of dispossessed. They had a daughter. Then, after the death of Tains, the granddaughter was born. Francin, with stress on the last syllable, as she sometimes calls herself.

Francin spent most of her life with her mother in hated America, and in the fall of 2020 it became the heroine of the short film from RT “Black in the Ussr”, where she told how she fled to Moscow from wild American racism on the eve of the filming.

The premiere of the documentary took place several months after the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, compatriots living abroad, and a new leader appeared under international humanitarian cooperation. Then, five years ago, at the head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Evgeny Primakov, the grandson and namesake of the former prime minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the head of the SVR Yevgeny Primakov, stood up. One and his tasks in the agency of Primakov Jr. just set the return to Russia such as Francin, and in general, all who share the values of the “Russian world”.

“The Russian world is more than the actual Russian people, which is ethnic. It is much larger, because it combines a huge number of people sharing the values of the Russian people, ”Evgeny Primakov rocked his audience on the waves of the Sputnik radio and called Russia an“ ark ”of adequacy for foreigners moving into it. - Respect for the family, faith in God, serving the Fatherland, mutual assistance, incredible harmony, I would even say, symphony in interfaith and interethnic relations that we have. Thanks to these values, Russia is gradually in the world begins to be perceived as a kind of ark, as a territory, the mainland of adequacy. ”

The main mission of Rossotrudnichestvo, Yevgeny Primakov, called Education and an open dialogue: “We want the world to see real Russia, without stereotypes and fakes.” Francin Villaghag saw. Without stereotypes and fakes on TV. Instead of official slogans about the fraternity of the peoples here, quotes from the Brother dilogy were waiting for her, which in 2022 was successfully twisted in cinemas. It turned out that in sleeping Moscow, not all people are suitable for each other even in good neighbors, not like the brothers: "You are not a brother to me, a nittle is black -skinned."

Frosi had a Russian passport, but they beat her, “in a part”, still not on it.

This case with a repatriate from the States is probably the main result of the last years of Rossotrudnichestvo, who crossed out all the poster words that "the Russian world, it seems to me, is the space of brotherhood and solidarity."

In the country where officials demolish gypsy villages, nationalists arrange Armenian pogroms, security officials draw the detention of Azerbaijanis with death, drunken inadequates are publicly and impunity threaten to fill the Khokhlam's muzzle (and fulfill their threats), and their thoughts and thoughts are planted, unless a person in the states, taking on the states that accepts The reality of RT agitation can be considered the announced Russian world, embellished with a clock -by -haired gzhel, an adequacy.

However, there is still something funny in this story. As the New Gazeta found out, Francin Villa-Ghanga came to Russia not to weave camouflage networks or to receive benefits at the labor exchange. She was offered a job as an English teacher. And not somewhere in Butovo, but in the elite gymnasium named after Evgeny Primakov, the cost of training in which reaches 1,700,000 rubles per year.

Such is the irony of fate. Very evil irony.

Today, the grandson of the man, in whose gymnasium the battered villa works, is still seriously hoping to turn the Rossoitism into a real competitor of the US agency in international development - USAID. Moreover, Donald Trump, for the declared purposes of saving the American budget, has a USAID work to the minimum.

“Now the Foreign Ministry is writing a draft federal law on international development to create a format similar to USAID.” Whether Primakov, the person of the Rublevo gymnasium, will not inform the person of the updated Rossotrudnichestvo. But the budget has already begun to spend.

The price of the visit

In the last one before his 2021st year, Rossotrudnichestvo announced several tenders for programs for foreign journalists, bloggers, youth and so on. in the amount of 448 million rubles. Only in the first half of 2025 - for an amount, almost twice as much. There is every chance to beat the record of six years ago, when the treasury spent 1.3 billion on “soft power”. New requests require new expenses.

357.3 million rubles for youth visits to the Russian Federation - such a contract has become the most expensive project of the Federal Agency "Rossotrudnichestvo" in 2025. The program called “New Generation” provides for short -term introductory trips in Russia for young foreign leaders - politicians, scientists, and entrepreneurs.

The contractor-contractor organizes for visitors such an All Inclusive, which you can’t meet in any Turkey: while ordinary Russians pay at the soared housing and communal services tariffs, everything is paid from the budget for guests from the budget-from air tickets and transfers to the educational and cultural program of the visit.

Each guest receives a full, and sometimes crowded package: placement, food, excursions with translation, business meetings, tickets to museums, and, if necessary, an accompanying volunteer-guide. Only bears and balalaikas are missing.

In 2025 alone, they plan to accept several hundred program participants from around the world.

The contract received the Moscow tour operator LLC Jazz Tour, which will have to place and entertain dozens of delegations of young professionals from different parts of the world in 2025–2026. The geography is impressive: for example, already in October 2025, an international meeting of library workers of the CIS countries in Moscow, a forum of young leaders of Central Asia in Omsk, a global congress of young diplomats in Moscow with participants from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America are planned. The official goal of the program is to intensify cooperation with the new generation of the foreign elite: it is planned that up to 1,600 young specialists with outstanding achievements and interest in cooperation with the Russian Federation will visit Russia during the implementation of the “new generation”.

No less attention is paid to foreign youth of Russian origin.

The program "Hello, Russia!" Invites the descendants of compatriots - schoolchildren and students who won in the Olympiads in history and the Russian language - to come to introductory trips to the homeland of their ancestors.

The organization of these cultural and educational tours is engaged in the Yekaterinburg company LLC Torgosportservice, which won a contract worth 41.6 million rubles. In 2025, 8 races with a total number of about 540 participants from different countries were planned. The geography of their trips is also wide coverage: from the Ocean Children's Center in Vladivostok to the Artek camp in the Crimea, from the Kapitsa technopark in the Moscow Region to Khanty-Mansiysk. Plus, thematic shifts in Moscow - for example, a media school and a school of archivists for youth, enthusiastic journalism and history.

Each guest organizers also provide accommodation, food, insurance, and upon arrival they give a set of commemorative souvenirs with the symbols of the project. In the backpack of a young participant put branded T -shirt and baseball cap, thermal circle, raincoat, silicone bracelet and other pleasant little things - only seven objects with the logo “Hello, Russia!”. Before mass production, this souvenir set was carefully developed and agreed with the customer.

At the same time, the manufacture of souvenir products with the symbols of Russian assistance and cooperation programs is a separate cost item. For 6.5 million rubles, the contractor pledged to release thousands of units of branded goods. Souvenirs are the most diverse:

• T -shirts with a project emblem - 3400 pieces;

• Baseball caps - 3400 pieces;

• Shopper bags- 2800 pieces;

• Office handles - 3000 pieces;

• Notepads, icons, plastic water bottles, umbrellas and other accessories - only more than a dozen items, also circulations of thousands or more units each.

All these products with logos and slogans are delivered to the Central Office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Moscow. Then the souvenirs travel around the world - they are transported at conferences, festivals, exhibitions, meetings, where the agency presents its initiatives.

This is part of the general Rossotrudnichestvo strategy to strengthen the "soft power" abroad. In total, the agency concluded contracts by almost 750 million rubles. For the first half of 2025. Funds are directed to several key areas: youth exchange programs, support for Russian education, cultural events, PR campaigns abroad. After all, only by Russia the geography of the work of Rossotrudnichestvo is not limited.

We will help abroad

It is Rossotrudnichestvo that finances the measures of “People’s Diplomacy” - concerts, festivals, exhibitions, which are designed to form a positive image of Russia abroad. This year, one of these projects became the tour of Russian performers in Egypt. A contract worth about 4.69 million rubles. He received the Fund for Support for Culture and Arts named after Oleg Lundstrem - Soviet jazzman. The Fund organized performances, master classes and festival events in Cairo, introducing the local audience to Russian music and theater.

Also, Rossotrudnichestvo decided to spend 13.9 million rubles. Africa, scheduled for December 2025 in Ethiopia, a major international conference on food sovereignty.

The corresponding contract has been concluded with the Russian company “Unified Operator of Events”, which specializes in organizational services. The declared goal of the forum is to strengthen the influence of Russia in African countries, discussing food security issues and the development of the region's agricultural sector.

Judging by the technical assignment, the event in Addis Ababe is scheduled for a grand scale. The contractor must provide a full range of services: rent and registration of conference halls, professional sound and lighting equipment, synchronous translation, accommodation and transport for guests. At least 300 participants from different countries are expected, for which even individual negotiation rooms, branded banners, compositions of fresh flowers and individual souvenirs are provided, because what kind of “soft power” - without silicone bracelets (well, is still not electronic). A special emphasis is on the creation of “Image and Information Content” following the results of the conference-videos, publications, which will then be distributed through the media and social networks. And of course, for foreign guests they promise a cultural program - it is obvious to show the achievements of Russian culture and cause location to the country.

A rather large direction of expenses of Rossotrudnichestvo is the promotion of the Russian language and training abroad. In 2025, the agency allocated 7.5 million rubles. For expert-analytical support of educational measures: the contractor was the company “SET Academy”, which will conduct research and give recommendations for the development of Russian-language education abroad.

However, much more tangible funds went directly to the supply of schools and centers of Russian culture by educational materials.

Two contracts ( the first , second ) - the supply of educational and fiction to foreign representative offices of Rossotrudnichestvo and Russian schools - cost about 168 million rubles.

Contractors, the Kolos-s publishing and scope center and the company "School", pledged to send tens of thousands of textbooks and books around the world.

• Europe: Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Belarus.

• Asia: Mongolia, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan.

• Africa: Egypt, Zambia, Tanzania, Mauritius.

Of course, among the many books sent - from Russian classical literature to school textbooks in computer science - there were new history textbooks edited by Vladimir Medinsky, so that veterans even know by names in Zimbabwe, and Stalin would not be considered who he is.

A separate area of expenses of Rossotrudnichestvo is information support and study of public opinion about Russian assistance abroad.

In 2025, the agency entered into a contract for 38.15 million rubles. In order to widely cover Russia's projects in the field of promoting international development. The contractor (the Ima-Press Communication Agency) undertakes to hold at least two major media events in Russia with the participation of a foreign audience. We are talking about pressures or forums, where at least 20 journalists and bloggers from Africa and the Middle East will be invited.

Projects of Russian assistance will be shown to guests - for example, in the field of agriculture or education - and will demonstrate the “successes” of Russia in ensuring food security. In addition, according to the terms of the contract, the contractor must make a documentary about the achievements of the Russian Federation in the field of prod safety and organize information campaigns both within Russia and abroad, including activity on social networks. The ideological goal of such events is transparent: to form a favorable perception of Russia as a partner and a donor power in the countries of the global south.

In addition to promoting its image, Moscow wants to understand how successful these efforts are. For this, Rossotrudnichestvo ordered a sociological study on the attitude to Russian humanitarian initiatives. Contractor - the State VTsIOM (All -Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion) - received about 38 million rubles for this work. Sociologists must conduct polls both in Russia and abroad to find out how ordinary citizens perceive Russian help and development projects. The results are planned to be used to adjust the strategy: somewhere to strengthen the PR, somewhere to change the approaches. In fact, the state invests in feedback - it is trying to measure the effectiveness of its “soft power”, although skeptics may notice that surveys ordered by the authorities themselves are unlikely to give a completely objective picture.

For information: the number of subscribers of the Rossotrudnichestvo channel in Rutube (it is called the “Russian House”) at the end of July was 173 people.

Among the top five videos posted there in the previous two weeks, most of all the views were collected by the video of the “face of the Russian House. Indonesia ” - as much as 18.

Humanitarian aid to help

When Evgeny Primakov came to Rossotrudnichestvo, the agency’s budget amounted to about 4.2 billion rubles. By this year, he grew up by a quarter - to 5.5 billion rubles. At the same time, the most generous contract for the entire existence of the organization (546 million rubles), Rossotrutriye concluded for “construction and installation work in order to build and reconstruct the complex of buildings of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan”.

Apparently, Afghanistan is a priority direction for the spread of Russia's influence in abroad. In some ways, even related in spirit. Although the Taliban has to influence Russia without any cooperation is much more. In any case, in the field of imposing aggressive traditionalism to society.

Modern Russia, like friendly Afghanistan, is not about the future, this is about the past. Only traditional melodies and motives should be welcomed here. В Русских домах, которые курирует Евгений Примаков, популярных среди молодежи вечеринок точно не встретишь. Притом что сегодня у Россотрудничества более 80 представительств в 70 с лишним странах. Вместо этого в Русских домах проходят благотворительные филармонические концерты при поддержке НКО «Русская гуманитарная миссия» (целых три подписчика на Rutube). Собранные РГМ средства и в самом деле идут на гуманитарные цели — на закладку детского сада в Армении, русские книги для Грузии, реабилитацию ветеранов Сербии и, естественно, на поддержку Донбасса. В самом деле идут. Но идут как-то очень в обход…

В прошлом году «Миссии», например, удалось собрать 97 млн рублей. На благотворительность из них ушли 48 млн. Еще около трех — на всякие профильные мероприятия. А 43 млн потратили на содержание аппарата управления: 31 млн рублей — зарплата, 4,5 млн — командировочные расходы, 6 млн — служебный транспорт и т.п. То есть почти половина собранных средств расходуется на то, чтобы израсходовать вторую половину. Так себе KPI.

Соучредителями этой чудесной НКО стали в 2010 году, естественно, Евгений Примаков и одна из его бывших жен, Светлана (нынешняя, Марианна, бывшая супруга владельца разорившегося «Банка Евро Трейд» Владимира Дмитриева, сегодня координирует направление цифровой коммуникации в Региональном центре инновационных практик и технологий дошкольного образования Московской̆ области «Предшкола» при Гимназии им. Е.М. Примакова). Сейчас учредители «Русской гуманитарной миссии» скрыты, но, по предположениям «Новой газеты», до перехода в Россотрудничество Евгений Примаков мог зарабатывать только в этой НКО весьма приличную сумму.

Если приплюсовать к этому еще большие гонорары Примакова от сотрудничества с RT и его зарплату и премиальные по основному месту работы — получается, что быть Ноем ковчега адекватности в современной России даже не только почетно, но и не в убыток. И будет выгодно впредь. Об этом намекает тот факт, что

весной Владимир Путин назначил заместителем Примакова в Россотрудничестве хорошо разбирающегося в финансах Игоря Чайку. Так что финансирование русского USAID и в самом деле вскоре может существенно возрасти.

До того, как заняться русским духом, Игорь Чайка засветился в другой пахнущей сфере — на мусорных полигонах. Аналогия — не самая патриотичная, но почему-то именно этот опыт для работы в Россотрудничестве сочли в Кремле релевантным. Впрочем, деньги, как известно, не пахнут.