The oldest foundation in Penza has ceased operations due to the ‘foreign agent’ law.

The Civil Union Foundation in Penza, which had been operating for more than 20 years, has announced its closure. This was reported by Regional Aspect and Govorit neMoskva.

In 2019, the Ministry of Justice added Civil Union to the register of “foreign agent” NGOs after an unscheduled inspection triggered by a report from former FSB employee Aleksandr Tuzov. The decision to include the organisation in the register was likely related to funding for one of its programmes, “Children of War,” by the German foundation Remembrance. Responsibility. Future. That programme supported elderly people affected by Nazi actions in their childhood. In 2023, the foundation closed the programme due to tightened laws on foreign NGOs.

According to the foundation’s director Oleg Sharipkov, the foundation had all but ceased operations as early as 2024. “Only the accountant and I remained on the team. The last straw was the requirement to forcibly open a special account at Sberbank: all money we might earn would have had to come through it, but we wouldn’t have access to those funds. In other words, they wanted to legally rob us,” Sharipkov told journalists.

Sharipkov said his immediate plans are to seek the foundation’s liquidation, though he expects this may be difficult. He added that former employees have found good jobs at other organisations, but he himself hasn’t yet thought about finding a new role. “After 25 years in NGOs, I believe I have good karma. I’m happy everywhere!” said Sharipkov.

Civil Union began its work in 2002 with a grant from Sergey Kiriyenko, who at that time was the presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District. The organisation focused on supporting children’s hospital wards, amateur theatres, elderly people and young people. The foundation held scholarship competitions, forums for entrepreneurs and urban communities, and worked to improve the transparency of the city budget.

According to Sharipkov, other NGOs have now taken over the foundation’s programmes, and Civil Union’s beneficiaries have also been placed under their care.