Financing of the arts and culture in Russia: A step forward and two back...

Abstract

The article analyzes cultural expenditures in Russia over the past two decades and more, both in the sphere, and in the context of the types of cultural activities. The paper also analyzed the possibilities of public cultural institutions to earn incomes, as well as to attract charities and sponsorship by type of institutions (theaters, concert organizations, museums, libraries and recreational centers). The current situation with financing of the arts and culture in Russia is characterized with: retention of the "residual principle" of financing, low priority of culture in the macroeconomic policy of the state, the prevalence of direct budget funding, the imperfection of the institutional environment for attracting additional sources of public support for the arts and culture. Despite sporadic attempts to build a multichannel system for financing of the arts and culture over the last quarter of a century, the palette of extrabudgetary funding opportunities is still monochrome. Creating a multichannel system for financing of the arts and culture in Russia requires serious tax reform, local government reform, and a departure from a purely accounting approach, in which development is hampered in favor of maintaining the existing status quo.