Russians Give $1.5-Billion Annually

Russian philanthropy now totals about $1.5-billion each year, up from $1-million in 1992 after the fall of the Soviet Union, but most foundations shy away from supporting human-rights and democracy-building causes for fear of government reprisal, reports The Washington Post.

Instead, foundations endowed by the country’s tycoons support the arts, churches, education, and health.

The increasingly centralized government, headed by Vladimir Putin, has punished donors who support democracy development, notably Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who ran an oil company and endowed a foundation, Open Russia. He is now in a Siberian prison camp and his organizations have been closed because the government says he has illegally evaded taxes. (Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s article about Open Russia.)

Other donors avoid giving to democracy-oriented causes, which are now almost entirely supported by non-Russian organizations.

“For now, areas like human rights and social justice are just too controversial,” says Maria Chertok, head of the Charities Aid Foundation in Russia.