MOSCOW, April 26 (RAPSI) – Prosecutors have recognized Open Russia, founded by former Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and several other foreign NGO’s as “undesirable organizations”, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced on its website on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Otkrytaya Rossia NGO, Open Russia public movement based in the United Kingdom and the Institute of Modern Russia (IMR) located in the U.S. implement special programs and projects aimed to discredit election results in Russia and recognize them as illegitimate.

The Prosecutor General’s Office believes that “undesirable” foreign organizations create conditions for protest rallies and destabilization of political climate in Russia.

Information on the adopted decision has been sent to the Justice Ministry asking to add the said organizations to the list of “undesirable” foreign and international organizations, the statement reads.

The law under which foreign NGOs can be put on "undesirable organizations" list if they are believed to be a threat to the constitution, defense or security came into effect on June 3, 2015. These organizations will be prohibited from working and from circulating information materials in Russia, and their offices and branches will be closed.

A decision to declare a foreign or international NGO an undesirable organization can be made or reversed by the Prosecutor General or his deputies, based on consultations with the Foreign Ministry. The Justice Ministry will compile and publish a list of non-grata organizations.

On March 28, President Vladimir Putin signed a law prohibiting "undesirable" NGOs from creating Russian legal entities.

Currently, the Open Society Foundation (Soros Foundation), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the MacArthur Foundation, Freedom House and others are among blacklisted organizations.