MOSCOW, December 24 (RIA Novosti) - The bill on non-governmental organizations in Russia, which the parliament's lower house, passed in the third and final reading Friday, does not contradict international standards, the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday. "The new version of the document does not contradict the key principles regulating the NGO status and approved by the Council of Europe and complies with the legislation of the leading countries in this sphere," Mikhail Kamynin said.
"The mechanism of registration of foreign NGOs fixed in the Russian bill is not more complicated than relevant provisions of the U.S. law on the registration of foreign agents," he said.
The bill stipulates registration procedures for public non-profit organizations and outlines requirements for their state registration. However, when the law has come into force, existing NGOs will not have to be re-registered, but new branches and representations of foreign NGOs will have to obtain registration from a single federal registration body.
Foreign NGOs' branches in Russia will also have to report on their programs, the amount on their financing and the organizations they plan to deal with in Russia.
Under the final version of the law, the public organizations that will not act as legal entities in Russia will not have to notify authorities of their activities.
The final version does not oblige the registration body to exercise financial control over NGOs.
The bill stipulates restrictions on foreign NGOs' activities in classified Russian territories.
The law is expected to come into force in 90 days, in which time the State Duma expects the government will have prepared the necessary documents.
