Major Russian scientific foundation to close after being branded “foreign agent”

The Dinastia (Dynasty) Foundation, a prominent non-governmental organisation and leading supporter of science and education in Russia, is to close after being labelled a “foreign agent”.

The organisation, founded by Dmitry Zimin in 2002, today announced its liquidation. The closure of the foundation comes after Russian authorities ordered Dinastia to register as a “foreign agent” in May, on the grounds that Zimin was financing the foundation from his foreign bank account and that it was the main sponsor of Liberal Mission, an NGO that aims to spread liberal values.

It was reported in May that the Justice Ministry had fined Dinastia 300,000 rubles for refusing to register.

The term “foreign agent” is a Cold War-era term, invoked in a 2012 law to describe any organisation that receives funding from abroad and is considered to be engaged in political activity. Being labeled a ‘foreign agent’ does not necessitate closure, but the organisation is obliged to display its status and is subject to heightened government scrutiny. Given the term’s association with espionage, the “foreign agent” label would likely have been damaging to Dinastia’s cooperation with state schools, libraries and science programmes. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed regret that Dinastia had decided to close.

The liquidation of the foundation is cited by government critics as evidence that Russian science is suffering as collateral damage of President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on civil society and crusade against “foreign agents”.

“This is a heavy blow,” Yevgeny Yasin, a former Russian Minister for the Economy and member of Dinastia’s board stated. “Moreover, this blow has been imparted by the state against itself […].”