Vladimir Putin Signs Law on Developing Creative Industries in Russia

Creative industries are the world’s fastest growing sector. They are in great demand as an effective economic growth driver, and the state shows that it is, indeed, interested in rapidly developing this economic segment. The new law introduces a series of key creative economic concepts, lays down the foundations for legal regulations in the creative industries, defines operational conditions, and sets the terms for systemic governmental support for creative businesses. Creative industries are defined as a basic economic sector that designs, distributes, and sells unique and economically valuable products. The law enshrines the concepts of creative industry actors, creative clusters, and federal and regional governmental support measures, including financial, property, educational, and information assistance. The law will help in developing the creative economy, furthering national culture, and establishing conditions for the population to realize its potential through using their creative and intellectual talents.

The law also sets down the principal areas of creative industries, including projects related to the use of historical and cultural heritage: folk arts and crafts; the activities of galleries and exhibitions; the use of works of literature and art (plays, choreography, music, photography, and pictorial arts, performances); information and telecommunications technologies (data processing and software development, computer and video game design); advertising; publishing; mass media; stage-set arts; design; architecture; and gastronomy. Given the rapid development of the creative industries, the list also allows other types of activities not listed in the law to be classified as such.

“The Law is intended to develop creative industries in a comprehensive manner by maintaining a single register of creative industry actors and building the relevant infrastructure – creative clusters, vesting regions with the right to select priority creative industries, providing government support, etc. As this important economic sector has developed, around a dozen federal laws regulating individual creative entrepreneurship areas have been introduced, but no mechanism for the systemic support of creative industries has ever been in place. Now we have a single law that aims to use industry-wide development tools and define creative economy management,” says Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation.

Systemic support for creative industries is a priority of the Innosocium Foundation, the social platform of the Roscongress Foundation. A flagship organization in this area, Innosocium has for many years been steadily tapping creative entrepreneurship potential and increasing the sector’s contribution to Russia’s economic development.

The social platform of the Roscongress Foundation has organized eight Creative Business Forums, as well as the Soul of Russia International Festival of the Peoples of the North and the BRICS National Brands Exhibition. Innosocium actively works on increasing the investment appeal of the Russian regions and developing their local creative economy as part of the activities of the Roscongress Foundation’s Social Platform at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), the Young Scientists Congress, the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, events organized as part of Russia’s 2023 presidency of the Arctic Council and Russia’s chairmanship of BRICS in 2024, and many other events. At the 2024 EEF, the Roscongress Foundation’s Social Platform will hold the first BRICS Creative Innovations Forum. 

Broadcasts of sessions and other creative industries events held by the Roscongress Foundation’s Social Platform have garnered over 12 million views, which shows that social network users are becoming more and more interested in this topic.

The law stipulates that the Government of the Russian Federation shall determine the federal executive body authorized to develop the state policy and legal regulations for creative industries, and regulate the creative economy in general. Its duties will also include collating information from all Russian regions into a single register of creative industry actors.