It is perfectly understandable to take stock of donations - but then, the decree envisages donations taxed, and that is bad. 40 per cent of German money donations will now get into the government purse instead of doing good to the Uzbek people, warned Mr. Schreiber.
In Uzbekistan, almost half the sums aimed to promote the emergent civil society and free enterprise will never reach the public - an arrangement that baffles German taxpayers, he pointed out.
Budgetary rules are extremely severe on the Konrad Adenauer and Friedrich Ebert foundations, and other German-based organizations. The federal Audit Chamber keeps an eye on all revenues and expenditures down to the last cent. Whatever money reaches the federal government is open to the utmost. The organizations will land in the dock if they are caught in money laundering. There may be certain dubious instances, true - but to make all answer for them means a clash with all international and national legal premises. The decree mentions "blocking money-laundering channels." The wording insults any organization, stressed Wolfgang Schreiber.