The Hermitage and Coca-Cola: 10 Years of Cooperation

In May 2003, the 10th anniversary of cooperation between the Hermitage and Coca-Cola is celebrated, which has already resulted in dozens of education and culture programs. On 14 May, 2003, in the Hermitage Theater was presented the new project of the Hermitage and Coca-Cola, “Preserving Cultural Heritage Together”.

Joint work was started in 1993, when the company’s charity foundation provided grant to purchase equipment for the Hermitage laboratory of tempera painting restoration.

In 1997, Coca-Cola and the Hermitage signed an agreement of cooperation. Their first “official” joint action was the company’s sponsorship of the Hermitage School Center’s programs. Computer classroom for schoolchildren has been opened, the Fairy Tale Hermitage family education program has been launched and the publication of Palace Fairy Tales books has started. To mark the 10th anniversary of cooperation and the Tercentenary of St. Petersburg, the Hermitage and Coca-Cola present a new cultural heritage project.

According to the project, the company has produced a restricted number of Coca-Cola collection cans with the most famous Hermitage views. Part of proceeds will be used for the reconstruction of the museum’s central entrance. Buyers are encouraged to collect a set of four cans and thereby make their contribution to the preservation of the cultural heritage of St. Petersburg. The collection cans will be sold throughout the country.

“Due to our cooperation with Coca-Cola, the new entrance to the Hermitage will be opened by the jubilee celebrations, and the museum’s appearance from Palace Square will take its final shape,” said the Hermitage Director Mikhail B. Piotrovsky.

“We wanted to present a special gift to St. Petersburg and other Russian cities. It is essential for the St. Petersburg 300th Anniversary to become a celebration for the entire country which should be proud of the Northern Capital’s magnificent cultural heritage,” noted General Manager Grant Winterton of Coca-Cola Export Corporation Moscow.

Le Petit Fute will publish on the anniversary’s occasion a unique guide of St. Petersburg, also sponsored by Coca-Cola.

Joint projects of the Hermitage and Coca-Cola TM (Coca-Cola Foundation (Atlanta, US), Coca-Cola Export Corporation (Moscow), Coca-Cola St. Petersburg Bottlers (Coca-Cola Eurasia Bottlers))

1. 1993-96. Grant for the Laboratory of Tempera Painting Restoration
Coca-Cola Foundation

2. 1996. Grant for Educational Multimedia Equipment
Coca-Cola Foundation

3. 1997. Grant for the Computer Classroom of the Hermitage School Center
Coca-Cola St. Petersburg Bottlers

4. 1998. Sponsorship of School Center Programs and Education Programs Exchange
Grant for the Publication of Knights Fairy Tales, Fairy Tale Hermitage Family Education Program
Coca-Cola Export Corporation Moscow

5. 2000. Finance for the Our Hermitage Mentally Retarded Children Program
Coca-Cola St. Petersburg Bottlers
Coca-Cola Export Corporation Moscow

6. Grant for the Publication of Pavilion Fairy Tales, Fairy Tale Hermitage Family Education Program
Coca-Cola Export Corporation

7. 2001-02. Fairy Tale Hermitage Family Education Program
Coca-Cola Eurasia St. Petersburg Bottlers
Coca-Cola Export Corporation

Anna Kozlovskaya, Head of Public Affairs & Communications Department LLC Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia (Moscow Branch), and Mikhail B. Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum

Mikhail B. Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, and Dimitri Makavos, Redional General Manager Nord-West Russia Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia