Maria Pevchikh has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Anti-Corruption Foundation* (ACF – International Anti-Corruption Foundation**). On this subject said in a message on behalf of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which was posted on his Telegram channel.
“Maria Pevchikh, Founder and Permanent Head of the Investigations Department, has been appointed as the new Chair of the ACF* Board of Directors. Her public work over the past two years has established her as a dynamic political leader. know well, but I have no doubt that she will be able to carry out these functions perfectly, ”said Navalny.
The politician also called former ACF chairman Leonid Volkov‘s letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, in which he calls for the lifting of sanctions against the Alfa Group co-owner, “politically wrong”, and also noted that it is “technically illiterate” and contains “incorrect information”. Additionally, Navalny apologized to his supporters, ACF donors and the fund’s supervisory board.
At the same time, according to the opponent, he was very happy to learn that Volkov* publicly admitted his mistake, “took responsibility” and resigned from his post as a representative of the ACF*. “I have no doubt that Leonid (Volkov*) acted with the best intentions. <...> I am grateful to Leonid for his quick and responsible response in the spirit of our principles. It's important," added Navalny. The politician noted that Volkov * "decided for himself" what work he would focus on in the future. Volkov*, in turn, wrote on the Telegram channel that he would continue his work in Navalny's team. Maria Pevchikh, commenting on her appointment as President of the ACF*, declared to the Sirena telegram channel that in this position he will continue to “publicly and unequivocally disseminate the anti-corruption agenda”, and will also continue to work in the investigations department. She also indicated that she supported Volkov*’s decision to step down from the governing bodies of the fund.
Resignation of Volkov* because of his letter of defense of the co-owners of the Alfa group
On March 8, journalist Alexei Venediktov* posted on his Telegram channel a photo of a letter asking the European Commission to lift sanctions against Alfa Group co-owners Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven. Judging by the photo of the letter, politician Leonid Volkov*, CEO of the Dozhd TV channel* Natalya Sindeeva*, journalists Leonid Parfyonov* and Sergey Parkhomenko*, businessman Evgeny Chichvarkin*, politician Leonid Gozman* and economist Vladislav Inozemtsev left signatures below. .
Initially, Volkov* did not admit to signing the letter and claimed that his signature had been “photoshopped”. However, on March 9, Venediktov* posted a letter signed only by Volkov* to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, which also called for the lifting of sanctions against Fridman and Aven.
Subsequently, Volkov* admitted signing the letter to Borrell and called it a “big political mistake”. He said he signed the letter on behalf of the ACF organization *, but did not inform his colleagues, thus “framing” them.
As Volkov* explained, he signed this letter because he believed that the lifting of sanctions against the co-owners of the Alfa group would provoke “a chain reaction of public condemnations of the war and a split within the Russian elites”. Consequently, the opponent resigned from the presidency of the board of directors of the ACF*. On March 15, he published an op-ed in The Economist urging the West to change its approach to sanctions against Russian officials and businessmen.
- registered by the Ministry of Justice of Russia in the register of foreign agents
** recognized in Russia as an extremist organization, its activities are prohibited in Russia
