State Duma Deputy Alshevskikh said that he would study the recognition of Marat Nikandrov as a foreign agent

Andrei Alshevskikh, a member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption and co-author of the law on foreign agents, told the publication “Climb”, which will study the case of inclusion of 19-year-old Marat Nikandrov in the register of foreign agents. Mr. Nikandrov told the Groza publication (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) that “just for fun” he submitted an application to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation to be recognized as a foreign agent.

“The whole procedure is spelled out there. If this happened in violation of current legislation, the prosecutor’s office has the right to conduct an inspection and, if it reveals a violation, correct it. I will study this case, and if in fact it is necessary to initiate amendments to eliminate any gaps, my colleagues and I will discuss this in our commission and make a decision,” said Mr. Alshevskikh.

Marat Nikandrov was on to the register of foreign agents on November 17. The Justice Ministry said the decision to include him in the register was made “based on an application from a person intending to act as a foreign agent.”

Mr. Nikandrov told Groza that he filled out the website Ministry of Justice corresponding questionnaire. He stated that he simply entered his passport data, SNILS and Taxpayer Identification Number into the form. At the same time, according to Mr. Nikandrov, he was not asked to provide data on the foreign source of financing.

Erdni Kagaltynov