MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that a controversial bill on non-governmental organizations needed to comply with the principles of civil society and that norms on relations between the state, NGOs and foreign and international organizations had to be clarified. "The purposes of the bill deserve support, but the proposed mechanisms of their implementation should be better coordinated with the principles of functioning of civil society," he said.
The bill, adopted by the lower house of parliament in its first reading November 23, is designed to make the state registration of nongovernmental organizations mandatory.
The bill specifies that a territorial branch of a federal registration body would decide on the state registration, reorganization or liquidation of a NGO no later than a month after the necessary documents have been submitted.
The document also lists the reasons for refusal of state registration if an NGO's goals, tasks and forms of activity violate the provisions of the Russian constitution or promote extremism and participate in money laundering.
