The State Duma on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a Kremlin-backed bill aimed at providing state support to socially oriented nonprofit organizations.
Communist deputies opposed the bill, warning that it would breed corruption, but two anti-corruption researchers said the legislation was sorely needed.
The bill was supported in a first reading by United Russia, A Just Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party, while the Communist Party voted against it, United Russia said on its web site.
The bill, posted on the Duma’s web site, defines a nonprofit organization as socially oriented if its activities are directed at “solving social problems” and “developing civil society” and if it is not state-owned, not a political party and not a religious organization.
The bill grants socially oriented nonprofit organizations the right to qualify for support from federal or local authorities in the form of money, property, tax breaks, information, consultations or education. The nonprofit groups could also accept contracts from state and municipal officials. Companies that provide financial support to the nonprofit organizations also would qualify for tax breaks under the bill.
United Russia Deputy Oleg Morozov touted the bill as a step toward “solving social problems that the state simply has no time for” and said it would boost the role of nonprofit organizations in society, according to a statement on United Russia’s web site.
But Ivan Melnikov, a senior Communist official, said the bill would “create new loopholes for corruption” and called for it to be rewritten. He said in a statement that the bill also needed to be redrafted “to prevent the distinction of nongovernmental organizations as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ according to criteria that is clearly subjective.”
However, two anti-corruption experts with nonprofit organizations praised the bill and its broad definition of socially oriented groups. Kirill Kabanov, chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, said corruption is always possible in Russia but the bill’s definition “mustn’t be narrowed because it could deprive support from organizations that really work.”
“A narrower definition could breed corruption because everybody would strive to get on the list,” said Yelena Panfilova, head of Transparency International’s Moscow office.
While A Just Russia backed the bill, faction head Nikolai Levichev cautioned in a statement that the Duma had to make sure that it “contains as few loopholes as possible for local bureaucrats to make a selfish profit.”
Meanwhile, Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said deputies would give priority during the spring session, which opened Wednesday, to Kremlin-backed bills aimed at improving the country’s judicial system and the quality of state and municipal services and of medicine sold in drugstores, the Duma’s web site reported. He said another priority bill will extend the period of time during which people can privatize their apartments free of charge.
The Duma plans to pass more than 550 bills during the spring session, Gryzlov said.