Steps taken to reinstate funding for SONGOs
3 April 2015
The Budget and Taxation Committee of the State Duma (Parliament) has approved the reinstatement of financial resources to the 2015 support programme for socially oriented NGOs (SONGOS)
The above was done by way of amending the Federal Bill No 744090 defining the parameters of the budget for 2015 (and containing the prospective budget for 2016) by restoring the financial provision to the sub-programmes for enhancing the effectiveness of state aid for SONGOS that fall under the state programme for social support for the citizens, minus 10%.
The Bill was due to have its second reading in the Duma on 3 April. Earlier the Council of the Federation (the upper house of the Parliament) had proposed restoring to the budget 621 million roubles to support activities of the SONGOS (by way of interdepartmental transfers) and 239.4 million roubles to subsidise autonomous institutions and other non-commercial organisations. The chairman of the federal government (prime minister) Dmitry Medvedev, spoke in favour of the proposals, saying that the arrangements needed to be rectified, with the reduction in financing, and that he would give the necessary instructions to the ministry of finance.
