Volnoe Delo

The Wolnoje delo Foundation (Russian Вольное дело ) was founded in 1998 by Russian entrepreneur Oleg Deripaska and is now one of the largest private charitable foundations in Russia.

Purpose

The Foundation supports a number of initiatives with a special focus on education and children. Mission of the Foundation is to find effective solutions for major societal problems in areas such as education, science, preservation of intellectual and cultural heritage, improving health care and improving access to social welfare.

Name

The Russian Wolnoje delo means " voluntary business ".

Facts and Figures

Wolnoje delo grew rapidly after its founding. Even a decade after the establishment of the Foundation had allocated more than 230 million dollars to support more than 400 charitable programs. Among the recipients of the Foundation's programs are more than 86,000 school children, 4,000 teachers, 8,000 students, 4,000 graduates, 1,000 retirees and more than 1,100 educational, scientific, cultural, medical, sporting, religious and other facilities.

The foundation supports the Lomonosov University in Moscow and the State University of St. Petersburg, the Hermitage Museum, the Bolshoi Theatre and Mariinsky Theatre and many other educational, cultural, historical and religious centers in more than 40 regions of Russia.