Nearly 130,000 SONGOs in Russia in 2022 according to a report by the Russian Ministry for Economic Development

21.03.2024

Article published on the ASI website

The Russian Federation’s Ministry of Economic Development has published a report on the support and development of SONGOs (socially-oriented NGOs).

The document has brought together detailed information on the work of SONGOs, including the profile of the sector, the number of CSOs, key support measures, sources of funding and best examples of regional support.

“This is not a dry report – it is a useful document containing detailed analyses. It shows that the sector has grown considerably in recent times with the contribution of CSOs to national GDP having doubled in that time. The total amount of SONGO funds and other assets has risen by 53%, with the volume of endowment funds increasing significantly, i.e. up to 140 billion roubles”, said the Ministry’s Deputy Minister Tatyana Ilyushnikova.

The report quotes data from Rosstat which show that there were nearly 130,000 SONGOs in Russia in 2022. Today, there are more than 215,000 organisations on the CSO register, including nearly 51,000 SONGOs.

The document also mentions the various forms of State support available to SONGOs, together with sources of funding and the resources allocated to CSOs from Russian Federation constituent entities’ budgets. These include subsidies, grants, tax preferences, asset support in the form of preferential or gratuitous lease of land and property, as well as access to Government procurement for the provision of social services.

The report cites best regional practices in providing SONGO access to social services. For example, the Omsk oblast and the Komi Republic allocate subsidies to local budgets if there is a municipal programme in place to support SONGOs. The Kostroma oblast offers a reduced tax rate on profits, while the Tambov oblast exempts SONGOs from paying tax on property used for recreational and health-enhancing programmes for children under 18 years of age. It also includes legislation and other regulatory acts adopted from 2021-2023 in the field of SONGO legislation.

The report’s authors compiled a rating of Russian Federation constituent entities in terms of their support for SONGOs. In 2022, the top three were the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District and the Yugra and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.

The Ministry’s report can be found on: https://economy.gov.ru/material/file.

Source:https://asi.org.ru/news/2024/03/21/opublikovan-doklad-o-podderzhke-so-nko/?utm_order_number=1