CSP criticizes new rules of registering grants in Azerbaijan

The amendments made by the Cabinet of Ministers to the "Registration Rules of Grant Agreements" fail to eliminate legal restrictions on the activities of Azerbaijani NGOs, as well as obstacles in financing from independent sources. This was stated by members of the public association "Civil Society Platform" (CSP).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the document came into force on January 1, 2017. In case the state body, which registers the grant, finds any shortcomings in documents, they should be returned to the grant recipient. The shortcomings should be eliminated within 10 working days (earlier – 5 days).

Alimamed Nuriev, a member of the NGO Support Council under the President of Azerbaijan, and the head of the Research Fund "Constitution", believes that the amendments to the grant registration rules are progressive.

However, members of the above CSP point to the "invalidity of claims that the novelties eliminate the obstacles to grant registration."

According to the lawyer Alesker Mamedli, a CSP member, a strict demand for the registration of grant agreements is still in place, as well as of donors, who have each time to get an opinion from the Ministry of Finance about the feasibility of the given project.

The CSP urges the authorities to seriously reform the legislation on NGOs and eliminate the restrictions.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.