As the number of foreign partners of the Russkiy Mir Foundation grows, its international humanitarian activities are recognized by increasingly diverse audiences, some of which could hardly be called pro-Russian.
Recently, the Armenian Russian-language website Vestnik.am decided to conduct an independent investigation of the “Russkiy Mir Foundation’s activities in the Republic of Armenia.” After sending a letter to the Russkiy Mir Foundation asking for information on the Foundation’s projects in Armenia, the website’s journalists, led by editor-in-chief V. Kocharyan, chose not to wait for an answer and gave an admittedly unfair judgment of the Russkiy Mir Foundation: “Russkiy Mir stands idle. It has been brought to our attention that an enormous number of applications from non-commercial organizations have been denied. That includes unique projects for promotion of the Russian language in CIS member nations, among them the Republic of Armenia.”
The above conclusions are undoubtedly baseless, as evidenced by the facts.
Staff members of the Russkiy Mir Foundation are paying close attention to the status of the Russian language in the former Soviet Union, especially in CIS member states, including Armenia.
From 2012 to 2015, the Russkiy Mir Foundation gave support to 15 projects aimed at promoting Russian language and culture in Armenia, including Russian language contests for children, Russian song festivals, Olympiads for schoolchildren, theater festivals, school performances and days of Russian language in Armenia.
The projects supported by the Russkiy Mir Foundation went beyond Yerevan. In the last three years, the events sponsored by the Foundation took place in Chambarak, Ijevan, Armavir, Gyumri and Kapan. A 2014 project, the most significant initiative of the recent years, was aimed at publishing a set of textbooks for Russian-language schools in Armenia. It was implemented under the Russian-Armenian intergovernmental agreement.
It should be noted that the financial capacity of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, financed by Russian taxpayers, has its limits, while the number of applications is exceedingly high. Decisions on sponsoring certain applications are taken by a special expert commission trying to help as many applicants as possible.
Vestnik.am chose not to look into the specifics of the Russkiy Mir Foundation’s activities. The aforementioned accusations might as well be caused by prejudice and misunderstanding of journalism ethics.
