Assessment of financial level of activities to provide Russian museums (the Vologda region case)

In strategically important regulatory documents of the Russian Federation, cultural sphere is among the national development priorities, and its main task is to preserve and strengthen national traditional values. In modern conditions, the issues of patriotism, historical memory, and generational continuity are becoming more and more urgent. In this regard, it is especially important to pay attention to museum institutions development. The article presents an analysis of the dynamics of museums quantitative indicators in the country as a whole, in the Northwestern Federal District, and the Vologda Region, funding sources, and institutions expenditures structure for the period 2018–2022, including the year of the Kultura national project implementation and the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic years. The purpose of the study is to assess the level of funding for museums in terms of their income and expenses. The information base was made up of data from the automated information system “Statistical reporting of the industry”. The main methods used were the scientific literature and normative documents analysis and methods of dynamic indicators, generalization, and interpretation. It has been established that budgetary allocations prevail in the financing structure of museum institutions, with minimal involvement of extra-budgetary sources at all levels. The cost structure study in the Vologda Region has revealed insufficient state funding for implementing and developing the most important aspects of museum activities. The prospects of wider involvement of public-private partnership mechanisms and charitable and sponsorship contributions have been shown.

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