The State Hermitage Museum announces:

On 27 March, 2009 the State Hermitage Press Service made the following announcement:

On account of numerous requests the State Hermitage informs the public and reminds about the unique social programme for museum visitors that has been effective for many years.

Apart from federal beneficiaries (constituting a relatively short list) the State Hermitage can be visited free of charge by other, far larger, groups of disadvantaged citizens. These include children, students of civil and military higher educational establishments (irrespective of their citizenship), and Russian pensioners.

Moreover, the State Hermitage offers free tours for educational establishments and charitable organisations on a regular basis and has kept one day of free admittance for all visitors.

On the whole, it turns out that nearly half of the Hermitage visitors have free access to the museum. This money is not subsidised by the state but covered by the extra-budgetary revenues of the museum (special tourist programmes, etc.).

A Russian citizen can get into the museum for a mere 100 roubles (price for a special rate ticket for a Russian citizen) that is absolutely incompatible with the prices for attending other cultural establishments and events. We would like to point out that the benchmark world price of a ticket granting access to a museum of the same level as the Hermitage is 10 euro (approximately 450 roubles).

The State Hermitage is committed to continue running its social programme despite the fact that the state subsidy assistance of the museum has been already reduced by approximately 16%. Consequently, the continuation of this programme has an impact on the material wellbeing of the hermitage staff members and makes us cut back on other important museum programmes.

Unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that only the frequent visitor of the hermitage know about its extensive social programme, it is neither covered by the media nor promoted by the authorities.