The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973 by the Bosnian-Croatian poet Borislav Arapović, its main task being to publish Bibles for "non-Slavic peoples in Slavic countries," not just Bible translations into the languages of Russia but also Central Asian languages.
Eighty-five million people in non-Slavic ethnic groups living in the former Soviet Union—now CIS, including Russia—represent a tremendous diversity of languages (at least 130 different languages) and religions (Islam, Buddhism and shamanism). The Institute for Bible Translation is also a part of the Forum of Bible Agencies International.