Economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for the cultural organizations in Russia

Abstract

To assess the economic impact of COVID-19 and to study the specifics of functioning of cultural institutions in the conditions of the pandemic, the authors analyze the 2019—2020 indicators and conduct an expert survey of the heads of cultural institutions of various types located in both capital and small towns, and rural areas in all federal districts. The analysis of the budget financing of cultural sector in 2020 compared to 2019 in Russia as a whole, and in the Russian Federation regions showed a noticeable slowdown of growth rates of expenses for culture and a decrease in the share of these expenses. The analysis of the dynamics of GDP per capita (in constant prices) and the share of household expenditures on recreation and cultural events in total household expenditures made it possible to predict a further reduction of these expenditures and, as a consequence, revenues of cultural organizations and extra-budgetary revenues of state and municipal cultural institutions. The analysis of the dynamics of the number of employees in cultural organizations by forms of part-time employment showed that in the conditions of coronavirus expansion, cultural organizations sought to keep jobs for their employees, but they also used various forms of part-time employment. The expert survey of cultural executives and managers confirms the deterioration of financial support for cultural institutions, including the emergence of difficulties associated with the failure to meet indicators established in the state assignment, and the cultural infrastructure lagging behind modern requirements for online formats. Specific measures are proposed to improve the situation in the cultural sector.