In the early 1990s, the Basic Law on Culture determined the level of state funding for culture – that is 2% of the federal budget and 6% of regional ones (media not included), which exemplified a welfare state illusion and has never been enforced; in 2004, the related article was deleted from the Law. Financial obligations of the state in the cultural field are stated in the Civil and Budget Codes: public funding is provided to the institutions established by the government (Article 120 and 161).
There are three budget levels in cultural funding, while financial responsibilities of each are set by the Law on Regional Governance and the Law on Local Self-government (2003) and the Budget Code. At the federal level, current spending is actually determined by the Laws on the Federal Budget and by the Federal Target Programmes related to culture. At the regional and municipal levels, the new laws changed the former division of resources in related budgets, thus putting public cultural funding in jeopardy (see chapter 7.1.2).
New juridical forms including endowments were introduced in the late 2000s for culture support and promotion of state-private partnerships, non-commercial partnerships and others. However, the draft Law on Maecenats and Maecenat Activities has been under discussion for several years without any result. The situation will hopefully be improved by the new Law on Culture in the Russian Federation that is to include special entries on partnerships, charities and maecenat activities within the cultural sector.
In 2009, the Concept of Supporting Development of Charitable Activities and Volunteering in the Russian Federation was adopted by the government, which named those actions important for cultural, artistic, and educational development. The Plan of the Concept implementation for 2009 and 2010 supposes elaboration of related amendments in legislation. In 2010, the Law on Introduction of Improvements into Particular Legal Acts of the Russian Federation on Support of the Socially Oriented Non-Commercial Organisations provided economic advantages for such organisations.
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