Russian charities fear impact of US aid group’s departure
Leading Russian charities say they will be adversely affected as their country’s president gives American agency USAID until 1 October to leave the country.
News that US Agency for International Development (USAID) has until 1 October to cease operations in Russia was announced by Washington earlier in the week. Moscow disputes the US version of events, saying it was not Russia’s decision to halt USAID’s activities.
According to the USAID website, during its 20 years in Russia, it has distributed $2.6bn “towards Russia’s social and economic development”.
It says it will work to ensure a smooth transition of its operations.
Russian groups most affected include Golos, which monitors the conduct of elections, and Memorial, a human rights watchdog.
Lilia Shibanova, executive director of Golos, told Reuters:
“For our organisation this will pose a very big problem indeed. We’ve been working with USAID since 2002, and it is very difficult to get funds for elections monitoring from international funds.
“As most funds have mostly charitable, or social, or ecological purposes, monitoring of elections is a very rare topic to become a priority of any international fund (apart from USAID),” .
Russia analyst Lilit Gevorgyan, of IHS Jane’s, told Channel 4 News there are several reasons why USAID’s presence may not be welcome in present-day Russia:
“I think USAID is seen as more of a political than a charitable donor, which probably was more important for Russia during the first decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Also it is associated with aid to developing countries, so from a Russian perspective it is not really flattering to have a US aid agency operating in the country. With the strong economic growth figures, especially in pre-crisis period, Russia has grown in its confidence on foreign policy arena where it wants to be see equal to the US and not in the position of receiving aid from it.”
She said the move is also in line with recent changes to the law on NGO funding which now requires NGOs to register as “foreign agents” if they get the majority of their means from foreign sponsors.
Crackdown
Mr Putin was re-elected as president after four years as prime minister amid concerns that following disputed elections, Mr Putin would preside over a crackdown on dissenting voices.
The jailing of the all-girl punk band Pussy Riot for “religious vandalism” (singing an anti-Putin song in a Moscow cathedral) was seen as further evidence of state intolerance of dissent.
In its statement, USAID said: “While USAID’s physical presence in Russia will come to an end, we remain committed to supporting democracy, human rights, and the development of a more robust civil society in Russia and look forward to continuing our cooperation with Russian non-governmental organisations.”
Lilit Gevorgyan, Russia analyst at IHS Jane’s, told Channel 4 News the move is not unexpected: “I think ending USAID’s operations is the logical next step following the tightening of funding of non-governmental organisations by Russian authorities. Because it is a US state agency the Russian authorities ultimately see USAID’s activities driven by political and not charitable goals.”
She said there is certainly a knock-on effect for groups which have links to USAID or other bodies which have links to foreign states: “The term ‘foreign agent’ is politically laden and those organisations that will choose to work with USAID or indeed any other foreign funders, particularly associated with foreign states, have to factor in the negative perception that comes with the label.”
Despite its departure from Russia, USAID still operates in nearby states such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, which have, to say the least, strained relationships with Moscow. USAID’s continued presence there may yet prove to be equally or even more problematic for the Russian government.