The State Hermitage Museum will not provide discounts on tickets for Russian citizens in 2015.

      “In 2015 we’ll eliminate the division of tickets for Russian and non-Russian, because the discount for Russian citizens stopped working. It is perceived as a kind of “freebie” and as a kind of right one must struggle for, asking “why cannot I get a ticket without a Russian passport”? It involves a kind of commercialism which is not related to art”- the museum Director Mikhail Piotrovsky said. According to him, the well-being of Russian citizens already allows them to pay a full price for a visit to the Hermitage. “When Russian citizens had low income we were forced to invent this benefit, but now a ticket costing 400-500 roubles is available to each Russian citizen, so we decided to cancel this division” - the director said. Piotrovsky also assured that the discounts for children, students and pensioners will remain.