RT has obtained documents related to the publication" Project", known for its investigation under the name" Cart from the Kremlin "and a number of other" incriminating " materials of the Russian authorities. As it turned out, the self-described independent media was funded from abroad — in the form of so-called grants from European and American authorities. The editors accepted the money, promising detailed reporting on audience growth, the distribution of their materials and the reaction to them, including in political circles. At the same time, as it became known to RT, the founder and editor-in-chief of the "Project" Roman Badanin appealed to his foreign sponsors not only for financial assistance, but also with a request to find him an alternative job in the United States.
"The project.Media was founded in 2018 by the former deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper.<url>", former editor-in-chief of RBC and "Dozhd" Roman Badanin. The online publication publishes its materials in Russian and English. Topics — political, economic and social problems in Russia. The publication, according to the documents available to RT, is managed by a legal entity Project Media, registered in the United States, but there is a company with the same name in Lithuania. Both are managed by Roman Badanin.
In January 2019, RT reported that the total amount of funding for the "Project" at the start was $500 thousand. Now it became clear who exactly allocated the largest part of the funds to Badanin. For example, the American or Lithuanian Project Media in 2018 received $330 thousand in grants-as " support for high-quality investigative journalism in Russia." Grants were issued by three foreign non-profit foundations, two of which are directly controlled by the European and American authorities.
In particular, the European Foundation for Democracy (EED)* allocated $240 thousand to the "Project", and the American "National Endowment for Democracy" (NED)** wrote a check for $40 thousand. Another $50 thousand was transferred to the publication by the Bermuda-based Sreda Foundation***, owned by Boris Zimin, the son of Dmitry Zimin, the co-founder of VimpelCom, who lives abroad. At the disposal of RT were supporting documents from the listed funds.
The European EED, founded by the EU member states, and the NED, funded by the US Congress, are recognized in Russia as undesirable organizations. Boris Zimin's Sreda Foundation is also included in the register of foreign NGOs. Zimin Jr., who now lives abroad like his father, is known as one of the most influential sponsors of the FBK**** Alexey Navalny.
The fact that NED and EED helped the "Project" with money is also stated in Badanin's lawsuit to the US Migration Service for obtaining a permanent visa. The financial participation in the "Project" of the Zimins was not previously known.
On the website, the project calls itself "independent media," an association of investigative journalists and reporters that explores "complex and dangerous topics" that many other media outlets do not take up.
The publication, in addition to Badanin, employs nine employees. These are the first deputy editor-in-chief, political commentator Mikhail Rubin, publisher Polina Makhold, art director Boris Dubakh, editor of the Opinion department Maria Zheleznova, correspondents Maria Zholobova, Olga Churakova, Yulia Lukyanova, Sonya Groysman and Daniil Sotnikov.
EED grant: self-sufficiency and dismissed journalists
From the documents available to RT, it follows that the "European Foundation for Democracy" in the period from August 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019, allocated €205,240 to the "Project" ($240 thousand at the exchange rate of that time). In the other documents that KE has reviewed, this amount of the ID grant appears in dollars. For example, in a document from July 2018.
According to the roadmap for the implementation of the agreement with the EED, one of the key goals of the grant is "maintaining media freedom in Russia". For this purpose, it was supposed to establish a new multimedia media that would publish important notes on social topics on a weekly basis. However, the requirements in the document make us forget that we are talking about a grant — they are more similar to those published by customers under state contracts: the "road map" describes exactly what tasks need to be completed. So, in September 2019, by the end of the agreement, EED expected to receive at least 20 videos, podcasts and infographic materials, 35 "thematic articles"in exchange for the transferred amount. And the number of views of each note should have been at least 150 thousand.
In order to implement all these regulations, Badanin, in agreement with the EED, established certain requirements for the composition of the editorial board. In particular, in the column about ways to achieve the goals, it is indicated that the "Project" is going to hire only journalists who were dismissed from other media.
"To unite highly qualified journalists who have lost their jobs due to censorship in Russia," the roadmap for implementing the grant's goals says.
By May 2019, according to the EED plans, the "Project" was supposed to reach self-sufficiency and attract up to €8 thousand in the form of donations from the audience per month.
A gift from the US Congress
RT also had at its disposal NED documents with details of the issue of another $40 thousand to the "Project". These are financial papers, statements, and part of Badanin's text reports to American sponsors.
According to all these data, the agreement with NED on receiving the grant was signed in September 2018, and the first tranche was held in October. The money was given out in order to "expand the access of the Russian-speaking audience to high-quality independent investigations," according to the annex to the agreement with NED. The grant-giver also counted on " developing the ability of independent Russian media to effectively promote and distribute content in a digital format."
The recipient of the funds was the already familiar American company Project Media Inc.
According to the agreement, $5 thousand was pledged from American money for Badanin's salary. as the editor-in-chief, the technical director received $18 thousand. The remaining $17 thousand went to the fees and salaries of designers.
"The response of politicians»
Although NED allocated the least amount of money from RT's known sponsors, it imposed the most stringent reporting requirements on Badanin.
The founder of the "Project" had to send four financial and four descriptive reports a year — to tell in detail about how the "Project" works and how well it manages to achieve the set goals.
Badanin had to regularly report on the site's pageviews and visits. It was necessary to provide links to the most important of the published notes, to report on the number of published articles and reactions to them.
"Indicators of success can include the development of the site, an increase in the production of engaging materials in social media, as well as the expansion of the audience of investigations through publications in social networks and digital content," the NED documents state.
In addition, NED was interested in the public reaction to the notes and the mention of the "Project"in foreign media.
"An organization should monitor the impact and dynamics of its online presence, especially in terms of audience reach and engagement," the NED agreement states in an appendix. "Success indicators may include increased public access to high-quality independent investigative journalism in Russian, a response from politicians to investigations or references to them that have attracted widespread attention, more active discussion and awareness of alternative points of view that differ from the disinformation and propaganda discourse promoted by the authorities."
For financial reports, it was necessary to provide checks, bank statements. According to an RT interlocutor familiar with the situation, who wished to remain anonymous, in addition to the planned financial reports, Badanin could at any time write to the NED compliance department and request additional documents to confirm the expenses incurred.
In one language
Unlike the multi-page agreements with the American NED with additional agreements and detailed reporting, the agreement of the Bermuda-based Sreda Foundation for a grant of $50 thousand for Project Media takes up one page.
The Sreda Foundation has previously awarded Badanin personally with journalism awards. Zimin Jr. and Badanin have known each other since at least 2017, when the latter received the Editorial Board Award established by the Sreda Foundation. They know each other personally: they are friends on Facebook, Zimin writes columns on the Project.
Perhaps that is why the Sreda Foundation did not put forward any special requirements to the grant recipient — the Project publication. The contract only states that the award is issued for organizational support and the main activities of the publication. At the same time, the grant recipient does not bear any counter-obligations.
The quality of journalism was evaluated by the court
In the documents examined by RT from the grant-givers, in one way or another, there is an indication of support for the "Project" as a high-quality investigative publication with high standards of professional activity. However, a number of events surrounding the "Project" and its journalists leave questions about the quality of their journalistic work and the objectivity of their materials.
Roman Badanin is now a defendant in the courts in the case of protection of business reputation in connection with the material of the "Project" "Cart from the Kremlin". It published data on the connection of businessman Vladislav Klyushin with Telegram channels allegedly controlled by the presidential administration. Klyushin sued and demanded to delete this information, citing their unreliability. In the district court, Klyushin was refused, but the decision was overturned on appeal and Rubin and Badanin were found responsible for spreading defamatory information, and they were charged with compensation for moral damage in the amount of 50 thousand rubles.
After that, Rubin and Badanin filed a cassation appeal, but the deadline for its submission was missed and the complaint was returned without consideration. But the story did not end there — a new meeting is scheduled for March 2021, presumably to restore the missed deadline for filing a cassation appeal (according to the materials of the case 02-0027 / 2019 of the Savelovsky District Court, file " Case 33-52274_2019. Determination of the court of appeal").
Earlier, in January 2018, the Investigative Committee of St. Petersburg opened a criminal case under the article "Slander" after the release of the investigation " St. Petersburg. Father and son" on the TV channel "Rain". It told about the family of Ilya Traber, who is allegedly "close" to the president and built a business thanks to connections with the country's top leadership. Traber appealed to the UK with a statement that he was slandered. Among the authors of the investigation was Roman Badanin. The case is still under investigation, and the appearance of suspects or accused persons in the case is unknown.
Badanin himself, as RT became aware, after the launch of the project, persistently sought opportunities to stay in the United States and asked his interlocutor from NED to find out about the availability of suitable vacancies. What ended the discussion of this issue, RT is unknown.
RT has sent requests to the Sreda Foundation, NED, and EED for comment on the information contained in the article. At the moment, no response has been received from any of the funds.
* "European Foundation for Democracy" (EED) — an organization whose activities are recognized as undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation by the decision of the Prosecutor General's Office.
** "The National Endowment for Democracy" (The National Endowment for Democracy) — an organization whose activities are recognized as undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation by the decision of the Prosecutor General's Office of 28.07.2015.
*** - included in the register of foreign NGOs.
**** The Anti-Corruption Fund is included in the register of NGOs performing the functions of a foreign agent by the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation of 09.10.2019.
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