The Accounts Chamber spoke about the withdrawal of money allocated to state support for cinema

The Accounts Chamber criticized the system of state support for Russian cinema. The report was published in the "Bulletin" of auditors over October.

One of the key defects in the system is the lack of control. Under the terms of the contract, the recipient of the subsidy must, at the end of work on the project, provide financial statements. The Accounts Chamber found out that the recipients of subsidies transfer budget money to the accounts of film companies that are not obliged to provide a report. Up to 60% of the estimated cost of films were sent either to the company registered in Cyprus, or to Russian organizations with a state from one to nine employees.

Auditors also indicate a conflict of interests when selecting films applying for budget money. The expert councils of 2017-2019 included representatives of the film community who simultaneously claimed state support. So, when the experts included the leaders of the Soyuzmultfilm film studio, it was the largest recipient of state support among manufacturers of animated films. From 2016 to 2018, the Ministry of Culture concluded 37 agreements with a film studio in the amount of 230 million rubles.

The Accounts Chamber notes that the requirements to store the results of voting neither the Ministry of Culture nor the Film Foundation are approved. Voting can occur without the use of forms - orally, by phone or other ways.

In addition, the auditors indicate, when highlighting subsidies, the success of the previous works of the applicant at the box office, as well as the ratings of television channels at the time of showing the film, are not taken into account. For example, the second part of the story about Urfin Juss of the film company STV received 200 million rubles from the Film Film, although the first part fell at the box office, collecting 207 million rubles with a budget of 345 million.