Round table "Corporate Charity and the development of culture

April 2, 2018 within the walls of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts held a round table "Corporate Charity and the development of culture." Participants of the discussion: Maria Salina, Deputy Director for Economics of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Maria Lemigova, Head of the Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing Department of the State Historical Museum, Natalia Pilyus, State Duma deputy and member of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture, Vladimir Pligin, Leading Researcher of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Adviser to the State Duma Speaker, Yury Pilipenko, President of the FPA and Senior Partner of the “YUST” Law Firm, Nick Kutnaks, Debevoise & Plimpton Advisor, Andrey Lisitsyn-Svetlanov, Senior Partner of the "YUST" Law Firm, discussed obstacles and prospects for the development of philanthropy in Russia related to legal factors. The moderator of the roundtable was Anna Kotova-Smolenskaya, Candidate of Law, Partner of the "YUST" Law Firm.

In modern conditions patronage solves the problem of underfunding of culture and social sphere. However, when structuring projects related to philanthropy, risks exceed preference for business due to lack of legal regulation. In particular, there are discrepancies in terminology in legislative acts, in a number of issues the regulation is excessive, and there are also not sufficient measures to stimulate charity. Moderator of the discussion Anna Kotova-Smolenskaya noted that "in the end everyone loses – business, public institutions and the state." "There is no economic incentive for charity, given the existing legislation."

Economic preferences for philanthropists abroad, for example in the UK and France, work much more efficiently, attracting more charitable funds to culture and other spheres.

As a result of the round table, it is planned to prepare proposals on changing the legislation for transferring to the subjects of the legislative initiative.

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