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Alexei Navalny’s widow wants to continue his fight against Putin in Russia. What does the most famous Kremlin opponent leave behind?
Moscow – After the death of Russia’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the question is who will inherit his legacy. Will there be a new protagonist in the resistance against Vladimir Putin? What happens to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK)? How much wealth does he leave to his family?
There has been a lot of speculation in recent years about the financing of Navalny’s foundation and his regional representatives as well as his private assets. The Kremlin repeatedly spoke of “foreign sponsors” who wanted to destabilize Russia by financing Navalny – but without evidence.
The assets of Navalny, his foundations and regional groups
Navalny’s FBK foundation and the so-called “Stäbe”, regional representations independent of the foundation, say they are financed primarily by small Russian donors. Some major donors such as the businessman and philanthropist Boris Simin also support the fight against corruption and for freedom of expression.
The FBK has published a detailed annual report since 2012 to guarantee transparency about its financing. In 2019, 917,000 euros were raised. For the regional groups, Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov speaks of around 2.1 million euros for the same year. The employees’ salaries are relatively low – on average around 800 euros. Much of the money would be used for court costs, fines and replacing confiscated computers.
Navalny’s fortune, his family and his political legacy
But how much is the private assets of Putin’s most famous opponent? What does he leave to his family? There is no precise information about this. In 2020, the Russian judiciary froze his assets while Navalny was recovering from a poison attack in the Berlin Charité. As the Rheinische Post reported at the time, the Russian judiciary fined Navalny’s foundation 88 million rubles (around one million euros). His share was 30 million rubles, around 300,000 euros.
At that time, bailiffs had imposed sanctions on Navalny’s apartment in the Moscow city of Maryino, meaning he was no longer allowed to sell the property. What exactly his widow Julija Navalnaya and his two children will inherit other than the apartment is not known. In any case, Navalnaya wants to continue his political legacy, as she announced shortly after his death.