Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to establish the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. The document was published on Monday on the Russian federal government’s website for legal information.
“In order to support projects in the fields of culture, art and creative industries, I consider it expedient to create the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. The founder of this fund will be the fund that manages presidential grants for the development of civil society,” the document reads.
The main goal of the fund will be to support projects in the fields of culture, art and creative industries, which are carried out either by non-commercial or commercial organisations, as well as individual entrepreneurs. The fund will offer grants in support of cultural projects.
This year the fund will receive 3.5 billion rubles on a non-competitive basis. The government will provide free accommodation for the fund’s offices no later than September.
The decree also approved the members of the coordinating committee that will oversee the competitions for presidential grants. It will be headed by the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, Sergey Kiriyenko. The committee has almost 30 members, including Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova, and Gazprom-Media Holding CEO Alexander Zharov.