# Russian businessman to donate entire wealth to charity

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/02/02/russian-businessman-donate-entire-wealth-charity/
- Published: 2010-02-02T14:26:08+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin has announced that he will donate all his wealth
to philanthropic purposes over the next ten years.

According to [Potanin plans charitable legacy](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa162fc2-0f3a-11df-8a19-00144feabdc0.html)
in the Financial Times, this is “the first such move to be publicly announced by
a Russian oligarch.”

He is already known for having given annual $1 million donations to the Guggenheim
Foundation.

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Charities Aid Foundation, which has been working in Russia since 1993, welcomed 
the announcement. It has been assisting Vladimir Potanin in his philanthropic activities
since 1999.

Olga Alexeeva, Head of Global Trustees at the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “Vladimir
Potanin was the first Russian entrepreneur to create a [private foundation](http://eng.fund.potanin.ru)
in Russian history. Now he becomes one of the first to donate his entire wealth 
to charity, following in the footsteps not only of Bill Gates but also Andrew Carnegie,
Gerald Ford and other great entrepreneurs and philanthropists.

“I have seen the impact his giving has already had in Russia. He set up the first
major scholarship programme for Russian universities which has enabled thousands
of students to continue their studies and his foundation runs a fantastic programme
that saves Russian museums. I hope other Russian entrepreneurs will follow.”

www2.cafonline.org/cafrussia/

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