The agenda includes the development of the Pushkin Card programme, the implementation of the Junior Sports Development Concept, and the pilot programme of cultural and educational tourism for schoolchildren.
Excerpt from transcript:
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
Last year, at the President’s initiative, we launched the Pushkin Card programme. Young people aged 14 to 22 can use it to pay for theatres, museums, and various cultural events all across Russia. The programme has become very popular. In just four months, 3.7 million people took part in it, purchasing a total of two billion roubles’ worth of tickets.
From 1 January, the nominal value of the Pushkin Card was increased from 3,000 to 5,000 roubles a year. And starting from next month, February, it will be possible to use the card to pay for additional services. It will be accepted in cinemas when buying tickets for Russian films produced with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Cinema Foundation. Owners can use up to 2,000 roubles per year for this.
We have a lot of good directors, screenwriters, and actors. And, thanks to state support, even more young people will get acquainted with their work.
I would like to ask the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media to make all the necessary arrangements so that cinema tickets for watching Russian films under the Pushkin Card programme can be purchased by 1 February. This must be as simple and client-friendly as purchasing tickets to exhibitions and performances.
Another important topic, in line with the President’s instructions, the Government has developed a Junior Sports Development Concept. This issue was discussed in detail at the meeting of the Council for Development of Physical Culture and Sport. The President set a task to take all the necessary steps in every Russian region to enable children to train on their own or receive coaching from qualified specialists and mentors, so that every year more children go in for sports. It is important that they have the opportunity to choose the area in which they go on to develop and achieve sporting success.
The concept will be implemented in two stages. First, during the next three years, a common physical culture and sports education space will be created. It will unite children regardless of which club or training they attend. That is, everyone will have access to good infrastructure and the help of trainers.
In addition to this, we plan to develop a digital information system that will help monitor the activities of sports organisations for children and teenagers.
This concept is yet another tool to achieve the national goals set by the President. Its implementation will make it possible not only to instil a love for healthy lifestyle in children, but will help improve the general physical culture and sports in the country.
In addition to the development of sport, it is important to create conditions for affordable recreation for children. This is one of the key priorities of the Tourism national project.
We are launching a new programme; it is an experiment. It is designed to help schoolchildren to get to know the history of their country during short trips so that they can learn more about the places around them.
We expect that this year over 100,000 children in the 5th-9th grades will go on school trips for one or even two nights with interesting excursions and comfortable accommodation.
The Government has allocated 500 million roubles for this purpose. Eighteen regions will receive subsidies this year and implement the specially developed tourist packages for schoolchildren. The subsidies will compensate them for the programme.
It is necessary to efficiently streamline the pilot programme to develop and expand it, so that more children will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to go on educational and cultural trips. We have provided sufficient funding for this.
Of course, we must not forget about the safety of the children, including meeting the sanitary and epidemiological requirements.
I am sure that these will be very interesting and amusing tours.
