Matvienko Pictures

After the cancellation of privatization, Lenfilm may become the property of St. Petersburg

The privatization process of the famous Lenfilm film studio has been suspended. Presidential candidate and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced this during his pre-election visit to St. Petersburg. However, the film studio learned about the freezing of the privatization process even earlier. Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko personally called director Alexander Sokurov and told him that the federal government had come to the defense of yet another St. Petersburg brand.

Let us recall that for the first time Lenfilm was included in the program of corporatization and privatization of state-owned enterprises for 2002 after Vladimir Putin signed the decree “On the reorganization of federal state film studios” in April 2001, which allowed the privatization of film companies that had survived from Soviet times. In December 2003, the then existing Ministry of Property issued a decree on the corporatization of the film studio. And in 2007, the Russian government adopted a privatization program for 2008, which included 100% of the shares of Lenfilm Film Studio OJSC. The area of ​​the central building of the studio is 14,200 sq. m, the main complex occupies three hectares on the Petrograd side.

The fact that 100% of Lenfilm shares still remain state property actually pleases creative workers. Because otherwise, from their point of view, the film studio will die. The fact is that the film studio's pavilions and other facilities occupy huge areas in the city center and in the picturesque suburbs of the northern capital. The previous management of Lenfilm used this with success. Thus, back in 2005, three dachas with a hectare of land in Lisy Nos, a pioneer camp on the shore of Lake Nakhimovskoye and a sports base on Kamenny Island were sold. A workshop for decorative and theatrical structures with an area of ​​7380.5 square meters was also sold. m. The St. Petersburg prosecutor's office became interested in these transactions, since the contracts included an amount 16 times lower than the market value of the real estate. Now the supervisory authority and the new management of the enterprise are trying to seize the property back.

Fortunately, financial fraud has not yet affected the main buildings of the film studio, located on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt. But some premises are already occupied by a cafe, restaurant and Italian dry cleaner. Privatization could finally finish off the film studio, especially since the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Trade refused to include an encumbrance on maintaining the profile of the enterprise in the agreement for the sale of shares.

But Lenfilm was lucky. After all, unexpectedly for everyone, political heavyweights stood up for the film studio. Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko personally wrote letters to the Russian government asking to suspend privatization. First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev received the correspondence and was quick to respond. As a result, it was decided to postpone privatization for now.

Several possible scenarios for the development of events loom ahead.

The first is similar to the Mosfilm scheme, where the process of selling shares was stopped several years ago. Now the capital's film studio can be easily privatized, and the buyer will no longer think of changing the profile of its activities. Because now he will not be buying real estate, but a very profitable enterprise that produces more than 200 full-length films a year (not counting TV series) and continues to develop.

The second option is to find a strategic investor who will decide to invest money in the development of the domestic film industry in St. Petersburg.

The third option is purely St. Petersburg. The government of the northern capital is ready to appeal to the Federal Property Management Agency with a request to transfer Lenfilm to the ownership of the city, as happened with Pulkovo Airport.

In any case, Lenfilm cannot get back on its feet on its own, and there is still a problem with adequate private investors in the state. Representatives of the local creative intelligentsia are also in favor of transferring the film studio to city ownership. According to director Vitaly Aksenov, the state should develop domestic cinema. And it is better if this support is “direct” - it is safer for the city to invest in its property than to initiate a dubious grant system. There are such programs, but so far low-quality TV series receive budget funds, and feature-length film projects mostly gather dust on the shelves. At the same time, the director is convinced that public funds should first of all be directed to the creation of children's cinema, historical and musical films, and not “near-crime” films and “horror films.” The latter will find their audience in the dark halls of night cinemas without this. Because the modern viewer - and this is mainly young people from 14 to 25 years old - “eats” everything that somehow tickles the nerves. Of course, America leads the way in blockbusters around the world. But in Europe, mechanisms have long been in place that enable national film products to be released. For example, in France there is a law that obliges cinemas to compose their repertoire so that it contains at least 60% of films of their own production.

As producer Andrei Sigle told Vremya Novostei, it is quite possible to revive Lenfilm. First, in his opinion, it is necessary to find competent managers. Not “our people,” as is customary lately, but film industry professionals. Secondly, investments will be required. According to rough estimates, if you invest $10 million in a film studio now, they will return in three years, and in ten years they will begin to generate good income. But in addition to money, this requires confidence in the future. That is, Lenfilm employees need guarantees that they will work quietly for at least ten years. After all, the most important thing is to preserve the team. Otherwise, the process of reviving the film studio could drag on for decades. Because the specialists of this company are unique. This doesn’t even apply to actors and directors, but to make-up artists, decorators, and costume designers. They all studied at Lenfilm, absorbing the experience of their predecessors. Only they will be able to train the next generation, since such skills cannot be obtained anywhere else. So the abolition of privatization is only the first step towards the revival of another symbol of St. Petersburg.

Not only is the symbol not only a film studio, but the place where it is located. After all, even before the first film studio appeared in Russia, the famous pleasure garden “Aquarium” was laid out on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt. It was there on May 4, 1896 that the first film show in Russia took place. During the intermission of the musical performance, the audience was shown a ten-minute selection of Lumière films. Then the garden closed. And in its place, in 1908, engineer Vladislav Karpinsky opened a film production company called “Omnium-Kino”; chronicles were shot here, feature films were made, which were watched with pleasure in St. Petersburg. After the October Revolution of 1917, all the property of Omnium Kino was transferred to the Petrograd Film Committee. And again, on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, in the former Aquarium garden, a few years later a new film factory was created, which later became the famous Lenfilm film studio.

Mikhail TELEKHOV, St. Petersburg