Focus Countries

Russia

The Foundation first established a special grantmaking initiative for Russia in 1991 and has maintained an office in Moscow since 1992. The Foundation's grantmaking in Russia seeks to support universities and other institutions engaged in research and training; enhance the skills and capacities of scholar-practitioners, and sustain and encourage links among them and with their colleagues abroad; and support the development of effective human rights protections. The Foundation currently makes two types of grants in the Russian Federation: grants for universities and scholarly infrastructure, and for human rights. For information in Russian, please visit www.macfound.ru.

		FROM THE FIELD Russian Grantee Wins Ruling, Repayment on Tax Status of Foreign Donations Add to Russia December 16, 2011 Russia has repaid Foundation grantee Agora Human Rights Association nearly one million rubles (approximately $33,000) in excess taxes, the result of a precedent-setting ruling by Russia's Supreme Commercial Court, which found that Russian nonprofits are not required to pay tax on donations received from foreign donors. In the run up to this decision, Agora had been subject to a seemingly punitive array of inspections and seizures of property by the government, effectively blocking Agora's work for several weeks.  More From the Field