Russia refuses to pay its third installment to the Council of Europe
According to Russia’s State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Russia will not pay a third of its contribution, which amount to €11 million, to the budget of the Council of Europe, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported.
According to Volodin, payments to the budget of the Council of Europe are made in installments. Russia does not plan to pay the third installment, which would be due at the end of 2017, he said.
Earlier, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko spoke about Russia’s refusal to pay a third of the payment. She mentioned this during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which was held from June 1st to 3rd. According to Matviyenko, at that time the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs was looking into the issue of payments to the Council.
In 2016, the Russia’s contribution to the budget of the Council of Europe amounted to just over €30 million. However, the Russian delegation has not participated in PACE’s activities since 2014. Russia's decision to withdraw from PACE was in response to the decision of the European Council’s deputies to deprive the Russian delegation of the right to vote in the organization.
RIA Novosti notes that, despite refusing to participate in the work of PACE, Russia continued to contribute to the organization’s budget. “This is because the payments go in a package with other payments to the Council of Europe, and they cannot be divided,” the news agency reports. How it was possible to separate the payments this year and block the part going to finance PACE was not specified.
The total 2016 budget of the Council of Europe was €442 million. Russia is one of the largest donors to the organization along with France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Turkey.
In January, Russia did not send a delegation to PACE. In October 2016, PACE recognized the Russian aggression against Ukraine and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory.
The Russian delegation was deprived of the right to vote and removed from PACE’s ruling bodies in April 2014, after Russia annexed the Crimea in Ukraine. In January, the Russian Federation refused to participate in the PACE winter session, after which its power in the organization was suspended for the entire year of 2016.