In 2007, President Vladimir Putin established the Russkiy Mir foundation. Designed to promote Russian culture abroad, the foundation prides itself on being open. But Re:Baltica found consistent lack of transparency in the foundation’s activities in the Baltic states of Latvia,…
“I talk and negotiate with Riga, with Oleg Solodov and others. Even the money that we [the City of Tallinn] pay goes to Riga, not to Tallinn”, says Lev Vaino, referring to the 425,000 euro contract for the production and…
In the nineties he was being hounded by irate depositors and the Prosecutor’s Office and was even forced to leave Latvia, but he still returned and created a media empire, which has an audience of millions in the Baltics. The…
“Russia uses its compatriots’ policy as a way of exerting soft power on neighboring countries. In order to reach as wide a group as possible, Russian policy-makers developed the concept of the “Russian World” – already in 2010 researcher Andris…
Why won’t Putin’s Russkiy Mir foundation disclose its non-profit activities in the Baltics?
Many Estonians view the philanthropy of the Russian state in their country as a deliberate effort to gain influence by creating ethnic divisions.