Since the beginning of April, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has temporarily suspended the internship and practice program for students, which had been in place for several years, learned «Novaya Gazeta Europe». Through this program, the RDIF had been accepting students from some Moscow universities for internships in a simplified manner. The reason, according to the publication's sources, is «internal checks»: the organization is trying to find the «leak» that aided FBK in the investigation.
«RDIF thinks they have a «rat». Therefore, no new people are being accepted for now. There is neither time nor hands to deal with students at the moment», — said a source to «Novaya-Europe».
The duration of the suspension of the programs is not specified, students were informed that the summer practice is currently suspended. Also, during the «checks», the RDIF has suspended the recruitment of new employees, with the last vacancy published on April 9.
On April 1, FBK published an investigation stating that the head of the RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, who participated in negotiations with the USA, owns real estate in Russia, the UAE, and European countries, with a total value that could amount to 7.5 billion rubles. Dmitriev's official salary would not have been enough to purchase such expensive real estate.
Following this, on April 19, the RDIF filed a lawsuit in the Moscow Arbitration Court against FBK and the head of its investigation department, Maria Pevchikh***.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent» and «undesirable» organization.
** Recognized in Russia as an «extremist» organization.
*** Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent», included in the list of «terrorists and extremists».