MOSCOW, October 6 (RAPSI) – The State Duma has received a package of bills aimed at encouraging individuals and companies to become patrons of the arts, TASS agency reported on Thursday.

They provide for attracting also foreign sponsors, who would be offered multiple cultural or employment visas for up to three years with a possibility of extension. They can also receive Russian citizenship in a simplified procedure.

Arts patrons will also have tax advantages. For example, the bill proposes that the NGOs that are supported by patrons of the arts be exempted from paying taxes on property they receive from these patrons.

The group of United Russia lawmakers that drafted this bill believe that it would “enhance the attractiveness of arts patronage for Russian and foreign individuals and companies, who can and want to invest their money in the preservation of cultural heritage and the development of culture and the arts.”

The documents have been submitted to the State Duma in connection with the framework bill on arts patronage, which the lower house adopted in the first reading more than a year ago. At present, amendments are being prepared for a second reading of the bill, which should be adopted in the final reading by the end of the year.

Its goal is “to promote the revival and development of arts patronage in the Russian Federation.” Arts patronage is only stipulated for “federal and municipal culture facilities.”