Russian research organization Levada Center. Such an unenviable status was assigned to her after an unscheduled August inspection conducted by the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Justice. The reason for it was a request from the leader of the Anti-Maidan movement, senator Dmitry Sablin.

What was the reason this decision, and is it fair?

As the letter of the law says

According to the Federal Law “On Non-Profit Organizations”, NPOs that receive funding from abroad and are engaged in political activities are considered foreign agents.

“The reason for including the Levada Center in the register of foreign agents was the words of its director about the “mafia power” in Russia, criticism of the annexation of Crimea and the citing of sociologists’ research in an article by Boris Nemtsov’s daughter.”

Deputy Executive Director of the Golos Association Grigory Melkonyants, that the reason for the organization’s new status was the publication of independent news:

“It is obvious that these events are related to the upcoming elections, moreover: the latest figures published by the center recorded a decline in the popularity of United Russia. The current law, which is quite loyal in “peaceful” times, establishes the most stringent limits for the participation of “agents” in election campaigns, while simultaneously leaving open the list of forms of such participation.”

Grigory Yudin, professor of Moscow high school social and economic sciences, the opinion that the whole point is the weak influence of the Kremlin on published research:

“You need to understand how Levada differs from FOM or VTsIOM: unlike the named companies, the Kremlin does not give orders to them, and therefore cannot so easily order what questions to ask and what results to publish.”

The Ministry of Justice recognized the conduct of opinion polls as political activity

Levada Center is included in the register of NGOs - foreign agents; this is the first sociological service to receive this status. The corresponding message was published on Monday evening on the website of the Ministry of Justice. The details were told to MK by the deputy director of the Levada Center, Alexey Grazhdankin.

The Ministry of Justice said in a statement that “the fact that the organization complies with the characteristics of a non-profit organization performing the functions of a foreign agent” was established during an unscheduled documentary check. The reasons for the unscheduled inspection were not specified. Let us remind you that according to the law (No. 121 - Federal Law of July 20, 2012), an unscheduled inspection can be carried out if the deadline for eliminating the violation contained in a previously issued warning has expired, based on the request of the prosecutor, on the basis of a request for facts indicating the presence of signs in the activities of the NPO extremism or, if authorities at any level have received information about violations of relevant legislation by NPOs. In July, the leader of the Anti-Maidan movement, Senator Dmitry Sablin, contacted the Ministry of Justice with a request to check the “facts of receipt of foreign grants” by the Levada Center. The director of the Levada Center then called this appeal “fraud.”

According to the law on NGOs-foreign agents (No. 121 - Federal Law of July 20, 2012), organizations that are engaged in political activities and receive money and other property from abroad are included in the register. What exactly is the political activity of the Levada Center and from what sources it receives funding is not stated in the Ministry of Justice message.

When asked by MK what exactly the Ministry of Justice recognized as “political activity,” Deputy Director of the Levada Center Alexei Grazhdankin replied that the inspection report contained “vague wording.” According to Grazhdankin, the act refers to the publication of sociological research data, quotes from Center employees from speeches at scientific conferences and seminars, and various media sources. “In our opinion, some facts have been incorrectly interpreted,” he noted.

Let us note that the Ministry of Justice conducted an inspection of the Levada Center from August 12 to August 31, just at this time the organization’s sociologists conducted a pre-election survey that showed a decrease in United Russia’s ratings to 31%. This is 8 percentage points lower than in July. The survey results were published on September 1, and on September 5 the Center was recognized as " foreign agent».

Alexey Grazhdankin also said that since 2012, Levada Center has not received any grants from abroad. According to him, the organization concluded only contracts for conducting sociological - marketing and methodological research commissioned by foreign research universities. “We don’t say that we finance the Cheerful Milkman company if we buy its products. This is how our research is bought,” he explained.

The Human Rights Council under the President has repeatedly said that the provision on foreign funding in the law needs to be clarified. In particular, the head of the HRC gave an example with a ballpoint pen, which can also be classified as “other property” received from abroad and on this basis the organization can be recognized as a foreign agent.

Alexey Grazhdankin noted that Levada Center has not concluded new agreements with foreign universities for the last three months, after the Ministry of Justice clarified the concept of “political activity” in the law (human rights activists noted that the concept was overly broad and any activity that could fall under it could fall under it ed.). The deputy director of the organization did not rule out that Levada Center will refuse to implement other long-term projects.

The NGO has not yet decided whether Levada_Center will challenge the decision of the Ministry of Justice in court. “We need to understand what actions will ensure the continuation of normal work, this is now the main task,” explained Grazhdankin. Earlier, the director of the Levada Center, Lev Gudkov, said that if the Ministry of Justice does not cancel the decision to enter the organization into the register, then “this means the curtailment and cessation of the activities of the Levada Center.”

By law, the organization does not have the right to publish polling data on the presidential election...

It seems that the presidential election campaign in March of this year has opened the hunting season for foreign agents. As Interfax reports with reference to the Vedomosti newspaper, the non-governmental research organization Levada Center will not publish the results of public opinion polls regarding the upcoming presidential elections in the Russian Federation.

Reason – The organization was recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent back in 2016, about which, in accordance with the law, the official website of the Levada Center informs its visitors: “ANO Levada Center was forcibly entered by the Ministry of Justice into the register of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent.”

Well, the law - whether someone likes it or not - states that an organization receiving funding from abroad has no right to take part in elections and referendums in any way. She is not given much credit honorary title"foreign agent"

As the head of the Levada Center Lev Gudkov noted, the organization will continue to conduct election-related polls, but simply will not publish their results, starting from the start election campaign. “Violation of the law threatens with fines and even closure of the organization,” Gudkov explained. Let us remind you that depending on the degree of violation, the amount of the fine varies for legal entity from 500 thousand to 5 million rubles.

Well, since we are talking about money, let us recall what served as the reason for classifying “independent sociologists” as foreign agents. Back in 2016, activists of the Anti-Maidan movement established that Levada hid its foreign funding, although since 2012 she has received more than 120 thousand dollars from the United States. The source of funding is the University of Wisconsin, which, according to anti-Maidan activists, works indirectly for the Pentagon.

“Activists of the movement found out that, despite the statement about the suspension of their receipt of funding from abroad, Levada Center receives money from the University of Wisconsin (USA). Moreover, in fact, the final customer of the public opinion research services provided by the center is the US Department of Defense. Therefore, we believe that Levada Center should be returned to the register of foreign agents. Any activity on Russian territory with foreign funding must be noted,” explained Anti-Maidan leader Nikolai Starikov. This is what the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation did a year and a half ago.

The sociological center itself denied everything, called the information about foreign funding slander and denied it in every possible way.

"It's a lie clean water, fraud,” said Levada director Lev Gudkov. - We are dealing with research, with the University of Wisconsin. This is a study of the housing problem, family history. We have no connection with the US Department of Defense. Where Wisconsin gets the money is their problem, how it is financed.”

Holy naivety! The head of Levada knows better than anyone that the Pentagon and the US intelligence services are not idiots who will publicly and through open channels finance Russian public organizations those involved in politics. If Mr. Gudkov considers this “a lie and fraud,” he should sue! Let the court punish the “slanderers” and clear the good name of “independent sociologists.” For obvious reasons, the head of the Levada Center did not do this.

Let sociologists forgive me, but they know better than anyone else how the wording of questions can be used to tailor answers to the desired result and thereby manipulate public opinion. This technology is not new and is used to question official surveys conducted by government agencies. “Alternative data from independent sociologists” are picked up by pro-Western media and bloggers, commented on accordingly and, to put it mildly, distort the real state of affairs.

Of course, Levada can conduct opinion polls, but it will become much more difficult to present them as objective, and it will be impossible to make them public. This means that it will be impossible to fulfill orders from abroad and financial flows will become scarce, and then completely dry up.

As the presidential press secretary noted Dmitry Peskov, "surely this is large organization(“Levada Center” - V.S.), which has its own authority. But, unfortunately, as required by law, being an agent, he will not be able to perform this activity.” Thank God that the employees of this organization will not be forced to wear “foreign agent” badges, as is provided, for example, by Israeli legislation.

Russian presidential elections March 18, 2018- this is certainly significant and an important event in the life of our country. It would be naive to think that our enemies will passively observe what is happening.

According to the law, the organization does not have the right to publish polling data on the presidential election.

It seems that the presidential election campaign in March of this year has opened the hunting season for foreign agents. As Interfax reports with reference to the Vedomosti newspaper, the non-governmental research organization Levada Center will not publish the results of public opinion polls regarding the upcoming presidential elections in the Russian Federation. The reason is that the organization was recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent back in 2016, which, according to the law, the official website of the Levada Center informs its visitors about: “ANO Levada Center was forcibly included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent.” Well, the law - whether someone likes it or not - states that an organization receiving funding from abroad has no right to take part in elections and referendums in any way. She is given the not very honorable title of “foreign agent.”

As the head of the Levada Center Lev Gudkov noted, the organization will continue to conduct election-related polls, but simply will not publish their results, starting from the start of the election campaign. “Violation of the law threatens fines and even closure of the organization,” Gudkov explained. Let us remind you that, depending on the degree of violation, the amount of the fine for a legal entity ranges from 500 thousand to 5 million rubles.

Well, since we are talking about money, let us recall what served as the reason for classifying “independent sociologists” as foreign agents. Back in 2016, activists of the Anti-Maidan movement established that Levada was hiding its foreign funding, although since 2012 it had received more than $120 thousand from the United States. The source of funding is the University of Wisconsin, which, according to anti-Maidan activists, works indirectly for the Pentagon. “Activists of the movement found out that, despite the statement about the suspension of their receipt of funding from abroad, Levada Center receives money from the University of Wisconsin (USA). Moreover, in fact, the final customer of the public opinion research services provided by the center is the US Department of Defense. Therefore, we believe that Levada Center should be returned to the register of foreign agents. Any activity on Russian territory with foreign funding must be noted,” explained Anti-Maidan leader Nikolai Starikov. This is what the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation did a year and a half ago.

The sociological center itself denied everything, called information about foreign funding slander and denied it in every possible way. “This is a pure lie, a fraud,” said Levada director Lev Gudkov. “We’re dealing with research, with the University of Wisconsin.” This is a study of the problem of housing and family history. We have no connection with the US Department of Defense. Where Wisconsin gets the money is their problem, how it is financed.” Holy naivety! The head of Levada knows better than anyone that there are far from idiots in the Pentagon and the US intelligence services who will publicly and through open channels finance Russian public organizations involved in politics. If Mr. Gudkov considers this “a lie and fraud,” he should sue! Let the court punish the “slanderers” and clear the good name of “independent sociologists.” For obvious reasons, the head of the Levada Center did not do this.

Let sociologists forgive me, but they know better than anyone else how, using the wording of questions, one can tailor the answers to the desired result and thereby manipulate public opinion. This technology is not new and is used to question official surveys conducted by government agencies. “Alternative data from independent sociologists” are picked up by pro-Western media and bloggers, commented on accordingly and, to put it mildly, distort the real state of affairs.

Of course, Levada can conduct opinion polls, but it will become much more difficult to present them as objective, and it will be impossible to make them public. This means that it will be impossible to fulfill orders from abroad and financial flows will become scarce, and then completely dry up. As presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted, “of course, this is a large organization (“Levada Center” - V.S.), which has its own authority. But, unfortunately, as required by the law, being an agent, it will not be able to carry out this activity "Thank God that the employees of this organization will not be forced to wear “foreign agent” badges, as is provided, for example, by Israeli legislation.

The Russian presidential elections on March 18, 2018 are, of course, a significant and important event in the life of our country. It would be naive to think that our enemies will passively observe what is happening. On the contrary, according to experts, as the climax of the elections approaches, the overt and covert interference of our ill-wishers will only increase. “In fact, interference in the internal affairs of Russia is multi-vector, huge amounts of money are being pumped in, annually from 70 to 90 billion rubles are sent to Russia for political activity, said Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko. “Not for charity, not for supporting health care, culture, but specifically for political activities.” Levada Center, as a foreign agent, was the first to be removed from the political game. Who is next?

The sociological office Levada Center, which has a wide but very controversial reputation, is, as they write in the media, “finally recognized” as a foreign agent.

Why finally? Because de facto everything with Levada has been clear for a long time, and the legal status is just a confirmation for everyone known information, which allows you to treat “sociologists” at the legislative level in accordance with their activities. Moreover, it leaves no room for ambiguity.

Today, September 5, an official message appeared on the website of the Ministry of Justice that the ministry included the autonomous non-profit organization “Yuri Levada Analytical Center” in the register of foreign agents. On July 11, the Anti-Maidan movement addressed the head of the Ministry of Justice, Alexander Konovalov, with a request to recognize Levada as a foreign agent.

The reason for the appeal was the fact that, according to the information available to activists, Levada hid its foreign funding, while since 2012 it has received more than 120 thousand dollars from the United States.

The source of funding is the University of Wisconsin, which allocates money to the Levada Center for certain sociological research. Also, according to anti-Maidan activists, the center’s specialists indirectly work for the Pentagon.

“Activists of the movement found out that, despite the statement about the suspension of their receipt of funding from abroad, Levada Center receives money from the University of Wisconsin (USA). Moreover, in fact, the final customer of the public opinion research services provided by the center is the US Department of Defense. Therefore, we believe that Levada Center should be returned to the register of foreign agents. Any activity on Russian territory with foreign funding must be noted,” explained Anti-Maidan leader Nikolai Starikov.

And today, finally, the Ministry of Justice made a decision on the statement of movement activists - not in favor of Levada. Of course, the sociological center itself denies everything, calls information about foreign funding slander and denies it in every possible way.

“This is a pure lie, a fraud. We're dealing with research, with the University of Wisconsin. This is a study of the problem of housing and family history. We have no connection with the US Department of Defense. Where Wisconsin gets the money is their problem, how it is financed,” said Levada director Lev Gudkov.

Actually, here it can be noted that, as such, Gudkov does not deny the receipt of money from the American Military Department. It simply says that they did not receive them directly, and their research is not directly related to the military sphere. Despite the fact that information war is also in the Pentagon’s sphere of attention, and Levada has done a lot on these fronts, although without directly mentioning guns and tanks.

Among the latest “information achievements” we can name, for example, a survey on the attitude of Russians to the upcoming Duma elections. The technique is traditional - “formative” questions, that is, those that lead the respondent to a specific answer that the questioner needs. This is how Levada receives shocking data that everything is bad in Russia, and then they happily take it away liberal media and bloggers.

At the same time, the information about foreign financing discovered by Antimaidan is far from the only one. For example, earlier there was information about Levada’s cooperation with the Soros Foundation. Need to think, known facts- this is only part of the iceberg, and Levada relies on foreign grants tightly and thoroughly. So densely that, in connection with the assigned status of “foreign agent,” Lev Gudkov has already announced the possible closure of the center.

“This is a very bad thing for us, if we are actually recognized and this decision is not cancelled, this means the curtailment and cessation of the activities of the Levada Center.” Because with such a stigma it is simply impossible to conduct public opinion polls,” Gudkov said.

Although, it’s worth repeating, everyone interested has known for a long time what Levada represents, and for those who don’t know, it’s unlikely that anything will change now. What problems will arise with the status of a “foreign agent” is the unadvertised receipt of foreign funding and positioning oneself as an “independent” social service.

It is possible to conduct opinion polls perfectly well, but presenting them as objective will become much more difficult. This means that it will be impossible to fulfill orders from abroad, and financial flows will become scarce.

Indeed, all this creates a significant threat of curtailing the activities of the Levada Center. But if they had actually been independent from foreign influence (let’s be honest with ourselves at least) researchers, this would not have happened.