Public organizations are obligatory constituent of civil society, Russian Justice Minister says

The civil society can not develop without active and transparent activity of non-commercial organizations, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov told a session of the CIS Council of Justice Ministers in Minsk on May 28. The Russian minister noted that the Russian policy of setting up the conditions for the activity of non-commercial public organizations is aimed at protecting the interests of citizens and observing the balance of private and state interests. According to the minister, there are 228 thousand 179 non-commercial organizations including 129 thousand public and almost 23 thousand religious ones in the Russian Federation. According to the minister, Russia’s public register includes 16 political parties. 19 parties stopped their activity in 2007 (in 2006 – 7).