MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. There is no discrimination against foreign movie distributors on the Russian film market, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Putin emphasized the need to protect the interests of Russian filmmakers. But it should be said that there is no discrimination against foreign movie distributors, their revenues from Russia’s film market have been growing," he pointed out.

While commenting on an open letter published by the Association of Movie Theater Owners and on methods aimed at supporting the Russian film industry, used by the country’s Culture Ministry, the Russian presidential spokesman noted that "it is the cabinet’s domain, it has been rather effectively coordinating this work and the activities of the Culture Ministry." "If you remember, when Putin served as prime minister, he initiated measures aimed at supporting the Russian film industry, setting up a Cinema Foundation and drawing up its rules, which to a large extent boosted the industry," Peskov noted. "All in all, the Culture Ministry has many times been praised for restoring our film industry and now we see the industry grow and the quality of movies improve, as proved not by polls but by the rapidly increasing box office revenues," he added.

The Kremlin spokesman also said that the same went for various museum exhibitions and theaters. He noted that Putin had many times said at various meetings, particularly with Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, that this work was most commendable.

 

Discrimination complaint

 

On January 17, Russian movie theaters received notifications from copyright holders that in accordance with the Russian Culture Ministry’s decision, the release of Paddington 2 animated comedy film had been delayed from January 18 to February 1. The press service of the Volga distribution company said that the date had to be changed in light of another release.

In this regard, the Association of Movie Theater Owners published an open letter on Facebook, calling on the Russian prime minister "to pay attention to the actual situation in the Russian film industry, which has been affected by excessive administrative control in the recent years."

Meanwhile, renowned Russian film director Fyodor Bondarchuk, Art Pictures Studio Director General Dmitry Rudkovsky and 20th Century Fox CIS Director General Vadim Smirnov addressed Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, supporting the Culture Ministry’s position on Russian movies.