Which Russian regions provide most support for SONGOs?
The Ministry of Economic Development has revealed which regions have provided the most support to SONGOs (socially-oriented NGOs)
11.10.2023
On 9 October, Tatyana Ilyushnikova, the Ministry’s Deputy Minister, announced the results of their annual ranking exercise for regions that provided the most support to SONGOs and social entrepreneurs during 2022.
The Deputy Minister explained that the ratings help to monitor the development of the non-State sector and to encourage the regions to provide more support to the CSO sector and social entrepreneurs.
In first place was the Republic of Bashkortostan, with Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in second and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in third, followed by the Yaroslavl and Tyumen Oblasts and the Primorsky and Krasnoyarsk Krais.
From the results of the ratings’ exercise the Ministry noted an increase in the number of SONGOs providing social services, medical care and pre-school education.
“The number of regions that are allocating funds to finance infrastructure support for SONGOs has also gone up. Last year, 70 regions set aside funds to help SONGOs, compared to 67 in 2021”, said Ilyushnikova.
The Deputy Minister stated that 6,838 SONGOs were supported at federal level last year, totalling more than 344 billion roubles.
“The rating of SONGOs provides us with the ability to assess trends in the help being provided by the regions and to improve the effectiveness of third sector programmes”, said Vadim Kovalev, Deputy Chair of the Federation’s Public Chamber Commission on the Economy and Labour Relations.
The Ministry of Economic Development has been conducting annual ranking exercises since 2017. Last year, 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation were assessed in areas such as:
- The introduction of competitive ways of providing social services;
- National coverage of the population by non-State bodies operating in the social sector;
- Tax incentives for SONGOs and legal entities donating to SONGOs;
- Municipal measures that support SONGOs and social entrepreneurship;
- Implementation of ways to create an infrastructure in which SONGOs can operate;
- Ensuring CSO access to the provision of social services;
- Information support for SONGOs.
The full rankings are available on the Ministry’s website.
