The Russian government has finally approved an ambitious project for the construction of 253 new cinemas in the country’s regions by 2029.

The project was initiated by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Prime Minister, and is expected to be implemented in cooperation with some well-known Russian film producers.

It is expected that most of the cinemas will be built in small Russian cities with a population of less than 400,000 people. The estimated amount of investments has not yet been disclosed, while according to a source close to the project it may exceed $263m (Euros 200m).

According some Russian media reports, most of the funds will be provided by state banks in the form of loans for 7-10 years with the total amount up to $263m (9 billion rubles).

New cinemas will be used not only for screening films, but for organising conferences, concerts and more. According to initial government plans, nearly 50 of such cinemas should be constructed by the end of the current year. Most of the cinemas will also be able to support 3D screenings.

There is a possibility that the new project might be combined with another Russian cinema project called “Film City”, under which terms 122 modular cinemas (built from light metal structures) will be built in Russia’s regions during the next four years. The declared amounts of investment in this project is 10 billion rubles.

According to Nevafilm Research, currently Russia has nearly 800 modern cinemas (with more than 2131 halls). Russian analysts believe that there is a real need to build new cinemas in small towns.

According to them, geographical distribution of cinemas in the country varied considerably and if large cities (with the population over one million people) has a sufficient number of cinemas, some cities with population less than 100,000 people often do not have even a single cinema.

They also added said that the project would be beneficial for Russian film producers and directors, due to the fact that most of their audience live in the vast Russian regions.

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