Abbreviation VD Type NGO Headquarters Moscow | Formation 1998 Legal status foundation Official language Russian | |
Volnoe Delo Foundation (ru:Вольное дело) was established by Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska in 1998 and became one of Russia's largest private charity foundations in 2009., The Foundation supports a wide range of initiatives with a particular focus on education and children. The Foundation’s mission is to find effective solutions to key social problems in areas such as education, the development of science, the preservation of spiritual and cultural heritage, the improvement of health care, and increased access to social welfare and assistance.
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Name
Volnoe Delo means "voluntary business" in Russian.
Budget
Volnoe Delo has expanded rapidly with its budget increasing 17-fold from 2003 to 2010. A decade after being established, the Foundation has already allocated over 230 million dollars to support over 400 charity programmes.
Alliance magazine, which covers global philanthropy from London, named the Volnoe Delo Foundation the largest of private foundations in Russia. According to the magazine, Volnoe Delo made grants of over $36 million in 2006.
Recipients of the Foundation include more than 86,000 schoolchildren, 4,000 teachers, 8,000 undergraduate students, 4,000 academics, 1,000 pensioners, and more than 1,100 educational, scientific, cultural, healthcare, sport, religious and other establishments.
Activity
The Foundation supports the Moscow and St Petersburg state universities, the Hermitage Museum, Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres, and many other educational, cultural, historical and religious centres in more than 40 Russian regions.
Science and Education
The Foundation works to modernize Russian schools, to increase the quality and accessibility of education for every citizen, from schoolchildren to workers and retired servicemen.
Since 1998, the Foundation has carried out 25 programs and projects affecting: 35 regions, 520 schools, 4 000 teachers, 80 000 pupils, 69 universities, 500 university professors, 40 000 college students, 1 600 scientists, 18 vocational schools, 1 500 future qualified specialists.
The large programs in the field of education and science coincide with these priorities:
Culture
For years the Volnoe Delo Foundation has supported Russian theatres and museums, theatrical schools and artistic ensembles, young performers and authors.
Programme recipients include:
Phanagoria
Since 2004 the Foundation has financially supported the Taman Expedition of the Archeological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Expedition conducts excavations of the ancient city of Phanagoria in the Krasnodar region (Kuban).
Tamara Rumyantseva, the fund’s director, to The Moscow News, August 2011, on Phanagoria and plans to build a Phanagoria research and museum center in the nearby village of Sennoi:
“We have been funding this project for many years because we believe this is of a high cultural and tourist value for Kuban and Russia. When we first came there, this place was in a sad condition, it has so much to offer to people from blue mud baths to a lotus flower valley. (...) The research center that will be built there by the end of this year and will attract scientists from Russia and abroad, it will become a hub for scientific research, meetings, conferences. This also will boost tourism and help businesses to grow in the region.”
Spiritual Revival
Over 170 churches, chapels, Sunday schools and orphanages have been built, restored or renovated since 2004 with the Foundation's support.
178 religious, educational and social institutions in 27 regions of Russia and six other countries received support.
The Foundation supports Orthodox teaching academies and is involved in publishing and distribution of Orthodox literature.
Healthcare
In the Ust-Labinsk region the Foundation aims to provide necessary means for easy access to quality healthcare, supports and develops medicine and promotes healthy lifestyles and early disease detection.
With the Foundation's help, hospitals in Moscow and other regions can purchase modern medical equipment, surgical instruments and pharmaceuticals.
The Foundation’s Anti-HIV/AIDS program was conducted in partnership with the Caring Heart Charity, the Krasnodar Krai administration, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, the Television and Radio Association of Kuban, Yuga.ru and Kuban.info. Over 9000 people have taken part in interactive seminars and contests. This activities as well as the extensive media coverage of the program succeed in raising the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among Krasnodar region citizens.