Justice Ministry not planning to liquidate Open Russia - Konovalov
ST. PETERSBURG. May 17 (Interfax) - The Russian Justice Ministry has no issues with Open Russia registered as a domestic non-profit organization, and there are no plans to liquidate it, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
"As of today, Open Russia is a registered organization, and relevant registers of Russian non-profit organizations contain information about it. Control over its activity is exercised in a routine manner, within the Justice Ministry's purview. If any issues emerge, we will learn about it," Konovalov said.
"There is no direct link between inclusion of a foreign organization in the register of unwelcome organizations - and the Justice Ministry acts merely as the operator of this register - and activity of other organizations related to it in some way," he said.
"Hence, liquidation is not an option," he said.
A spokesman for the Justice Ministry told Interfax earlier that three non-governmental organizations, among them the Open Russia Movement, dubbed by Russia as unwelcome, had no branches on Russian territory.