'Take Friends, Classmates, Colleagues': Slyusar Sends Don Officials to Museums

Officials in Rostov Oblast need to visit regional museums. This instruction was given by Governor Yury Slyusar at a meeting of the regional government. According to him, this way civil servants will help museums that are currently struggling.

The issue arose due to the failure of the Pushkin Card project in 2025. Out of a possible more than 2 billion rubles (about $22.2 million at current rates), cultural institutions in Rostov Oblast received only 256 million rubles (about $2.84 million) last year. That is about 13%.

«Given resource constraints (the budget), museums are having a hard time now. They need help. So [go] yourselves, with your families. Have you been? Go again. Take friends, relatives, classmates, colleagues. But most importantly, of course, schoolchildren, students, college students need to be sent to museums in an organized manner,» Slyusar stated.

The Pushkin Card program was launched in 2021. Its essence is that every citizen aged 14 to 22 can get a card from the Mir payment system, onto which the state annually allocates a certain amount for attending various cultural events. In 2025, it was 5,000 rubles (approx. $56).

According to the Rostov Oblast government, over 700 cultural institutions in the region are connected to the program. And about 292,000 residents have the card.

Until January 1 of this year, the operator of the Pushkin Card program was Post Bank. Now it has become VTB Bank, which is why the card had to be reissued. But, as said by Svetlana Manankina, deputy chairman of the Rostov Oblast Legislative Assembly, only 43% of its holders in the region have done so.

«Billions for cultural leisure are lying idle. Last year, only 13% of the possible amount was spent on the cards. That»s 256 million instead of billions! The state allocates money. Young people don«t use it. Why?» says Manankina.

The question is not rhetorical, and to answer it, it is proposed to fill out a questionnaire.

Additionally, in June 2025, President Vladimir Putin proposed launching a «Children»s Card« in Russia for buying books. It is assumed that the card limit will be 3,000 rubles (approx. $33). Families with children aged 3 to 6 will be able to get it.