The number of social enterprises in Russia rose by more than a quarter in the last year
In the last year, the number of social enterprises in Russia has increased by more than a quarter
According to the Our Future Foundation, as of January 2023, almost 8,000 business units were registered in the Register of Social Enterprises, over 27% more than last year.
25.01.2023
Social entrepreneurship in Russia is developing rapidly. 2022 was marked by several important events in the systemic development of social entrepreneurship in the country. A coalition of participants in the social entrepreneurship support infrastructure has been formed that includes 15 organisations, including Our Future.
The Foundation also signed an agreement with the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education on the development of professional standards.
Among the state support measures, the threshold for co-financing in the grant competition of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has been reduced from 50% to 25%. This has made it possible for more social enterprises to find funds to implement their projects.
“Social entrepreneurs are active people, they are distinguished by an increased interest in self-development, “says Natalia Zvereva, Director of the Our Future Foundation. “Last year, we launched the first widespread School of Social Entrepreneurship online, for which almost 600 people signed up. 100 of them were selected to complete the free programme. Additionally, the first ever social enterprise industry courses in Russia were held, which we conducted in Southern Khantia-Mansia on supplementary education and social services”.
In 2022, more than 4,500 people took part in the training programmes of the Social Entrepreneurship Laboratory. For the first time, the Axel Sotsakaz incubator programme has been launched for businesses carrying out municipal and social contracts, the number of which can be expanded through the participation of social enterprises.
In 2022, a business sprint course was held in 65 regions, aimed at helping social entrepreneurs to prepare grant applications to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. The number of its participants increased by 36% compared to 2021.
The More Than Buying project provided markets to 35 manufacturers last year. Thanks to the programme, the goods of social enterprises are sold in more than two thousand retail outlets in Russia, as well as on the online retail outlet Wildberries.
The Good Impulses Award for contribution to the development and promotion of social entrepreneurship in Russia was awarded for the 10th time. The winners were social entrepreneurs from St. Petersburg, the governor of Khantia Mansia Natalia Komarova, the Agency for Social Information, and other ambassadors of social entrepreneurship.
In 2022, the Our Future Foundation continued its development in the Russian regions and terminated nine cooperation agreements with local associations of social enterprises, including in the Astrakhan, Amur, and Primorsky regions.