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Our founder Vladimir Potanin elaborates on his approach to philanthropy

The new video interview, timed to coincide with the launch announcement for the Foundation's endowment.

The new video interview, timed to coincide with the launch announcement for the Foundation's endowment (the news hyperlink goes here), reveals Vladimir Potanin's vision of philanthropy, as well as his opinions on the pandemic and the global prospects of Russian charities.

Vladimir Potanin established his Foundation in 1999, but he notes that both himself and the companies that he headed had gone into philanthropy long before. He also says that his experience with philanthropy has, in many ways, turned out similar to doing business, because both require a systemic approach: "Philanthropy is also a business that you have to run and organize. This way, you can make sure that your aid reaches the intended recipients and actually has an impact on them; and you can choose truly relevant and useful projects to back. I think that the creation of the Foundation is perfectly in line with these goals. The more I do this work, the more aware I become of how to structure it in the long term."

Mr. Potanin is confident that the Foundation's current programs are in great demand: students need scholarships and museums need grant support. Motivated to make his charitable activities both systemic and sustainable in the long term, Vladimir Potanin turned his attention towards endowments. However, there was no legislation on endowments in Russia at the time, and Mr. Potanin became personally involved in the creation of the endowment law that is in force in Russia today. Next, the Potanin Foundation set out to support the development of the endowment model in Russia. This work is still ongoing. "We [the Vladimir Potanin Foundation:ed.] even launched a special program, for assisting those who've conceived an endowment of their own. And it is still active."

In the interview, Vladimir Potanin also voiced some thoughts on the subject of the pandemic, which still remains highly relevant. While talking about the COVID-19 impact, the creator of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation refused to compare it to a crisis, emphasizing how much grief and how many problems it has brought to the world. At the same time, he noted that the pandemic has helped philanthropy become more widespread: "The system has become bigger, with more opportunities. More room for being kind, if you will".

When responding to the question about the future place of Russian philanthropy in the global world, Vladimir Potanin pointed out that Russian benefactors are notable, famous figures on the global arena. That said, he specified that he does not deem it appropriate to pit Russian philanthropists against their foreign peers: while we should take pride in our traditions of charity, we don't have to compete with anyone. Who donated more money, who opened more programs, who helped more museums: this kind of competition is inappropriate and simply unnecessary," he said, with great conviction. Likening charity to a sports competition does nothing but interfere with its true goal: "more effectively solving the problems that arise in our society". Link to video (embedded player is the best option).