Event territories: volunteers will be officially allowed to engage in landscaping
Landscaping may become a new, 29th goal of charitable and volunteer organizations, which is enshrined in Russian legislation. The expansion of this list was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. Due to the lack of this position, non-profit organizations that are engaged in landscaping various territories could not apply for state support, industry representatives and experts explained. The fact that this problem will be solved by amendments was also stated by the developer of the document, the Ministry of Economic Development.
New purpose in the law on Charity
Assistance to landscaping will be added to the list of goals of charitable and volunteer activities. On April 6, the government commission on legislative activity approved such a bill by the Ministry of Economic Development, sources in the Cabinet of Ministers told Izvestia.
Currently, the law "On Charitable Activities and Volunteerism" specifies extremely specific goals — a total of 28 points, including social support for citizens, participation in the elimination of emergencies and their consequences, prevention of social, national and religious conflicts, assistance in protecting motherhood, childhood and fatherhood.
In addition, these include the social rehabilitation of orphaned children, environmental protection and animal welfare, the search for missing persons, participation in events to perpetuate the memory of those who died defending the Fatherland, the development of gratuitous blood and bone marrow donation, and much more.
But there is a paradoxical situation with landscaping, Elena Topoleva-Soldunova, chairman of the Commission for the development of the non-profit sector of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, General Director of the Dobrota Severa Charitable Foundation, told Izvestia.
— Funds and companies invested in landscaping: they made parks, embankments, and public spaces. But formally, this did not always fall into the concept of charitable activities," she said. — There were issues with the tax regime, taking into account expenses, and the legal status of such projects. This creates uncertainty and holds back development. The industry has long talked about the need to correct this logic.
For territories, especially in the regions, such projects are an important development factor.
— They keep people, create points of attraction, and launch economic activity, — said Elena Topoleva-Soldunova.
Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association, noted that the draft law developed by the Ministry of Economic Development should bring legislation on charitable activities in line with amendments to the law on non-profit organizations.
— In it, landscaping activities have already been classified as activities that allow receiving state support, — he said.
Why do I need an amendment on landscaping?
The amendments to the law will allow volunteer and charitable organizations to apply for support measures in the implementation of landscaping activities, as confirmed in the cover letter of the Ministry of Economic Development. It was sent to the government along with the document and its reviews (Izvestia has it).
In an explanatory note, the agency recalled that in the law "On Non-profit organizations" such a type of activity as assistance to landscaping has been present since 2024. Therefore, it is necessary to add this area to the law on charitable organizations and volunteerism in order to create conditions for the further development of such activities and ensure the consistency of legal regulation, the Ministry of Economic Development noted.
The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Construction agreed on the proposed amendments without comment. At the same time, the institute noted that the final result of organizations' activities is the main criterion by which it is determined whether it benefits society and whether it can qualify for support measures. Therefore, the goals should be fixed in legislation.
The amendments to the law are, in fact, a recognition that charity has long gone beyond social assistance in a narrow sense, said Elena Topoleva-Soldunova.
— Today, a significant part of the projects of NGOs and foundations is related to the development of the environment: public spaces, cultural facilities, urban areas. It affects the quality of life no less than classical social programs," she said.
If the amendments are adopted, the rules will become clearer: organizations that implement landscaping projects will be able to operate in a more transparent and predictable legal framework.
"This applies to tax incentives, opportunities to attract financing, and participation in partnerships with the state," the expert said.
According to her, this will record what has already happened in practice: charity is not only about helping an individual, but also investing in the environment in which people live. And this is an important step towards a more systematic development of the territories.
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