The institute was founded as a commercial language institute for two reasons.
First, in all of Russia there is no institution with the word “peace” in its name, and the concept of “peace institution” is not understood or accepted. To create an institution, the institution must describe its activities. “Working for the good of the world” is not an activity currently accepted by the legal authorities. So, language teaching became an official activity of the institute.
Second, the Russian authorities are suspicious of non-profit organizations, especially institutions founded by foreigners. Anyone who works for a non-profit institution established by a foreigner must register as a “foreign agent”. This designation "foreign agent" has the stigma, the connotation that the agent and the institution do not work for purposes that could help Russia.
To avoid these problems, the Institute was founded as a commercial institution.