No comment on Gazprombank’s removal from foreign-funded entities’ list

12.10.2023, 16:37 exclusive.kz

The Finance Ministry on Thursday declined comment on the removal of Russia’s Gazprombank from a recently published list of organisations getting foreign funding. The list of 240 entities receiving funding from “foreign countries, international or foreign organisations or individuals” was published on 20 September. It included various media, human rights and environmental organisations, including Exclusive.kz. When checked six days later, Exclusive.kz found that the original list had been updated – one organisation, Gazprombank’s Kazakhstan branch, had been removed. When asked for comment by Vlast.kz website, the Finance Ministry referred to an internal regulation that says that an entity can be removed from the list if it provides a “corrected” report on its sources of funding. The Ministry added that the list covered only organisations whose activities were aimed at “providing legal assistance and studying public opinion” in Kazakhstan, according to the Vlast.kz report. On 10 October Transparency International expressed “deep concern” about the Kazakh government effectively disclosing domestic civil society organisations funded from abroad. “This move raises significant concerns about the negative impact this will have on the already shrinking space for civil society and independent media in Kazakhstan,” the organisation said in a statement. Transparency International said the move appeared aimed at limiting local civil society groups’ access to international funding. It said the publication of the list echoed Russia’s «foreign agents» legislation and practice. Kazakhstan does not have a law designating non-government organisations or individuals as «foreign agents». However, the move, “taken on the pretext of transparency”, “contributes to the narrative that these entities serve foreign actors’ agendas,” Transparency International said.