Youth leaders of Rostov Region criticize Soros Foundation

On June 23, at the roundtable on the topic "Activities of foreign human rights organizations in Russia on the eve of State Duma elections", held at the Press Centre of the Youth Information Agency (YIA), leaders of youth public organizations of the Rostov Region spoke against implementation of the projects of the Soros Foundation in Russia.

The pretext for the event was the news item posted on the website of the Southern Federal University (SFU) that the "Open Society" Institute would implemented in Rostov an international project "Bureaucracy and Post-Soviet Political Regimes". It followed from the description of the project that foreign scientists planned to use the Centre for Political Concept Studies of the North-Caucasian Research Institute of Economic and Social Problems of the SFU for acquainting young professionals with the postulates of the Western democratic world.

However, later it became known that the project would not happen. "The SFU will not implement the project because of absence of funding," Andrei Zaichikov, head of the YIA's Press Centre, said at the roundtable.

According to Dmitry Krotov, the leader of the Don Youth Union, employees of the SFU had agreed to take part in Soros grant, because their university salaries are scanty. "No doubts, taking part in such projects is very profitable. However, I'm concerned that Soros appears every time, when the country is on the brink of revolution, when young people should be driven out to the streets. Moreover, it's no secret that Russia is currently suffering from a split in its elite," Mr Krotov voiced out his concerns.

Dmitry Pustovoy, Director of the Centre for Social and Political Studies and the Rostov regional leader of the All-Russian Youth Public Organization "Young Socialists", said that exchange of experiences with foreign countries is a must. "We need training workshops to build up business relations with the West. However, the forms of the work practiced by the Soros Foundation are questionable," he said.