Civil Code relating to NGOs amended
8 May 2014
Amendments to the Civil Code relating to the establishment and activities of NGOs made by Law of the Russian Federation No 99 dated 5 May 2014
The not for profit partnership, Lawyers for Civil Society (LCS) has stressed that a federal law published on 7 May in Rossiskaya Gazeta makes fundamental changes to the legal status of Russian NGOs. It introduces novel distinctions based on the type of activities that they carry out and new rules regarding membership, whilst imposing legal constraints on their organisational arrangements and introducing new conditions under which services may be provided for payment.
From 1 September 2014 NGOs having a membership complement will be classified as corporate whilst foundations, whether state, municipal or private, and autonomous not for profit bodies will be classified as unitary. In addition, the law as published provides for a closed list of legal types of NGOs. It establishes 11 different forms in which they might be created. These include communal or charitable funds and state, municipal and private institutions, autonomous not for profit organisations and public law companies. The exact definitions of the organisational and legal forms that NGOs may adopt are to be found in the text of the law. NGOs whose founding documents allow for gainful activity must possess property whose market value does not fall below the minimum amount of capital that limited liability companies need to hold, which presently amounts to 10,000 roubles.
The text of the law is to be found at < http://www.rg.ru/2014/05/07/gkrf-dok.html>. LCS has stated that it is planning to put on a series of seminars for NGOs dealing with issues of the application of the legislative amendments.
Author: Georgy Ivanushkin
