NGO Green World - Civil Society Watchdog on Russian Nuclear Industry is Included in the List of "Foreign Agents"

On November 16th 2015, at 13:15 in the nuclear town Sosnovyj Bor on the Baltic Sea coast, 40 km from the St. Petersburg, representatives of the Leningrad Region Department of the Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation handed the environmental Non Governmental Organization (NGO) Green World (GW) an Act on the results of an unscheduled on-site inspection of the organization.

On the 46 pages of this document are set out the facts which, according to its authors, argue that GW "received funding from foreign sources, was involved in political activities carried out on the territory of the Russian Federation that were aimed at shaping public opinion in order to influence decision-making by government authorities related to state policy, as well as aimed at creating public resonance and attracting the attention of the state system and civil society".
As result, according to the Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation, GW has received the designation of "NGO acting as a Foreign Agent".

Overview over controls GW underwent recently:
April 25, 2013
On-site inspection was conducted by the assistant of a prosecutor of Leningrad Region (Marina Ahberdovnaya Kozyreva) on the subject of GW’s role as a potential “Foreign Agent”. The justification for the inspection was an order of the President of the Russian Federation for a review of all NGOs in Russia. Statutory and financial documents were provided, including samples of printed materials, documentary films, and explanations and answers to questions were given. GW received a response by phone that there were no claims regarding our work based on this inspection.

August 09, 2013
Unplanned inspection of GW took place by the deputy prosecutor of Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad Region, N.E. Bogdanova. The reason for this inspection was a complaint by the Close Joint Stock Company (CJSC) Ecomet-S (Sosnovy Bor) that Green World supposedly acts as a "Foreign Agent," but is not registered as such. GW provided all required statutory documents and other publications.

The complaint by Ecomet-S to the prosecutor's office coincided with the promotion of a repository site for radioactive waste disposal in Sosnovy Bor, in which Ecomet-S has an interest as it produces radioactive waste.

At the same time, the Federal State Unitary Enterprise RosRAO (an operator of radioactive waste), according to the website for state purchases (number 31300696401, publication date 25.11.2013), signed a contract with the Foundation "Russian Public Policy Center" (Moscow) contract for the "Organization of public hearings on the preliminary environmental impact assessment of the radioactive waste repository site of RosRAO” in the amount of 17.000.000 (seventeen million !!!) rubles (about $257.000 !!!).

For several months prior to the public hearings on the depository, the free-of-charge newspaper “Narodnyje Vesti FM (“People's News FM") was distributed, promoting nuclear projects and discrediting opponents of the construction of the depository, including GW. It was at this time (15.08.2013) that the newspaper published an article titled "Green World with a Norwegian slant," which argued that GW supposedly defends the interests of Norway by criticizing the projects of radioactive waste repository and Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant-2 (LNPP-2).

As a result of the audit, the prosecutors of Sosnovy Bor did not give GW any further signals. From a telephone conversation for checking with the prosecutors, GW learned that the application of CJSC "Ecomet-S" was dismissed.

In this way, "radioactive business" in Sosnovy Bor tried to block criticism by GW of the radioactive waste repository project.

October 13 – November 11, 2014

GW was subjected to a planned audit of its documents by the Leningrad Region Department of the Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation. The inspector was Olga O. Bochkareva. The order number was 257 and dated April 2, 2014. The aim was to see whether “the activity of the organization, including expenditure of funds and the use of other assets complied with the organisation’s statutes".
After the audit, Green World received instructions for improvements (act 45 of 11.11.2014 and directions 11.11.2014. №47 / 02 – 4110).
All improvements were made under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation.

October 19 – November 16, 2015

An unscheduled on-site inspection of GW was conducted by the Leningrad Region Department of the Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation. The inspectors were Vera M. Ivanova the Head of NGO Affairs of the Leningrad Region Department of the Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation and inspector Maria E. Reysma. The basis for this inspection was a request by the citizen M.M. Rumyantsev (resident of Ekaterinburg, Ural Region of Russia), who stated that GW acts as a "Foreign Agent,” but is not registered in this status.

The request of Mr. Rumjantsev to the Ministry of Justice coincided with public discussion of Environmental Impact Assessment materials in support of the license to operate the Leningrad NPP-2 (under construction). Green World was busy to show violations of the laws and safety standards in the process to promote realization of Leningrad NPP-2 project. GW during this same period was forced to spend much of its time responding to the Ministry of Justice.

According to representatives from the Ministry of Justice, GW involved in political activities with donations received from other countries. For 11 years, Green World has received funds for the project "Decommissioning". With Norwegian support, Green World and NGO colleagues in the Decommissioning project network have, among other things, arranged study trips to look at decommissioning processes at nuclear power plants in Lithuania, Germany, the United States, and also looked at repositories of radioactive waste in Sweden and Finland. At these trips we have had representatives from federal, regional and municipal authorities from nuclear regions of Russia, experts and employees of Rosatom and nuclear power plants, and also media http://decomatom.org.ru/public/10let_decom_291014.pdf .

The decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Russia is an actual problem. More than sixty percent of Russian NPPs have passed their designed lifetime. The technological, ecological, social and economical experience of other countries with decommissioning of nuclear power plants is needed in Russia.

GW with colleagues from regions of Russia, Norway, and the United States have summarized the international best practice decommissioning nuclear power plants and presented it in the form of a Concept to the nuclear community of Russia and to the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna) http://www.greenworld.org.ru/sites/default/greenfiles/conception_eng_1610.pdf.

The status of "foreign agent" for GW and for our decommission-partners NGO “Za Prirodu” (“For Nature”), Chelyabinsk, Ural Region, Russia, brings harm to the safety of Russian nuclear facilities.

Green World has worked for 27 years in support of the safety of nuclear facilities in Sosnovy Bor, near St. Petersburg, because the members of the organization live in close proximity, and feel responsible for Sosnovy Bor residents, for St. Petersburg residents, and for the 100 million other inhabitants of the Baltic region countries.
In order to be effective in this, we have received support from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Russia and the United States.

December 2, 2015
The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation approved the introduction of the NGO Green World in the list of "Foreign Agents" http://minjust.ru/ru/press/news/o-vklyuchenii-v-reestr-nekommercheskih-organizaciy-vypolnyayushchih-funkcii-inostranno-10

The accusations that Green World is a “Foreign Agent” are absurd!
Our habitat is indivisible!
NGO GREEN WORLD is an Agent for Nature!
Members of Green World are Agents for Planet Earth!

Oleg Bodrov,
Chairman of Green World,
The International Network of NGOs Decommissioning