Company of Putin's friend Rotenberg receives funding for 'anti-corruption activities'
According to the documents published on Russian government’s procurements website, Moscow-based company Granat has won the tender of the Russian Civic Chamber, a consultative civil society to analyze draft legislation and monitor the activities of the parliament.
Funds in the amount of more than 46 million rubles or nearly $700,000 dollars were allocated to provide "preparation and assistance services" for the Civic Chamber’s activities in the field of developing civil society institutions, public oversight and anti-corruption, as the description of the contract says.
The contract is entirely financed from the Russian federal budget.
According to the Russian SPARK online database, containing the corporate information of Russian companies, Granat LLC is entirely owned by Russian energy tycoon Arkady Rotenberg, who is believed to be a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the technical description of the contract, the contractor will be responsible for organizing 135 events in Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Crimea and 17 regions of Russia. These are 77 round tables, 27 public hearings and 27 seminars, two forums of 170 participants and two conferences of up to 150 participants. All events should be held in 2019.
As part of the contract, the contracted company is expected to conduct various polls, in-depth interviews and any other related activities. The government expects to receive a report of no larger than 200 pages detailing the results of each event.