Russians donate an estimated 340–460 billion rubles ($5.1–$6.9 billion) per year to charities, according to a new study cited by the RBC news website on Thursday.
The study, conducted by Skolkovo Business School together with UBS bank, estimates that wealthy individuals contributed between 40 billion to 80 billion rubles on philanthropy per year, while large Russian oil and gas companies donated around 100 billion rubles.
An estimated third of the money given to charities comes in the form of smaller donations from citizens, accounting for 140–160 billion rubles, RBC cited the study as saying.
The authors of the study noted that the total amount Russians give to charities is comparable to Russia’s annual federal budget spending on health care (approximately $6 billion).
Among wealthy Russians, charities dedicated to helping children received support from 73.9 percent of donors, followed by charities that combat poverty (47.8 percent) and religious charities (28.3 percent).
The study was conducted using data from the Russian Philanthropy Support and Development Fund, which surveyed the Russian population on their participation in charitable activities. The researchers also reportedly interviewed around 100 wealthy Russians with a net worth of over $1 million as well as CEO’s of federal companies.
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