Members of NCOs criticize distribution of grants in Chechnya

At the contest for socially-oriented non-commercial organizations (NCOs) to receive state subsidies, 17 out of 37 NCOs registered in Chechnya and admitted to the contest became the winners. Staff members of independent NCOs have criticized the distribution of grants and treated the decisions as biased.

The total amount of grants for the implementation of social projects distributed among NCOs has reached 13,539,000 roubles, of which 9,282,000 roubles were allocated from the federal budget. The remaining part was allocated from the republican budget, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Ministry of Economic, Territorial Development and Trade of Chechnya.

Most of the NCOs receiving grants, except for several of them, are not actually engaged in any activities, and many of them are directly affiliated with authorities. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by a staff member of one of the independent NCOs, who preferred to remain anonymous.

"The number of all the winning NCOs includes several NCOs engaged in the actual activities. However, most of the winners are either directly affiliated with the authorities or exist only on paper," the activist has said.

According to the source, two NCOs winning grants are led by the same person.

"Two organizations 'Russian Union of Youth' and 'National Council of Social, Youth and Children's Organizations' always win state grants," noted the NCO staff member. He has also added that he does not see any work carried out by those organizations.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.