"It’s meant for some nouveau riche and corrupt individuals." The State Duma has called for regulation of ticket prices for the Bolshoi Theatre.

Currently, the ticket prices for the Bolshoi Theatre have become outrageous. This opinion was expressed by State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov.

He reminded that the Bolshoi Theatre is primarily a state institution, not a private business.

I believe that the financial policy of the Bolshoi appears shameless. It is a policy aimed at some nouveaux riches and corrupt individuals: a decent person cannot afford to pay such high prices for tickets. This is a state structure.

In this regard, Milonov called on the Ministry of Culture to establish order regarding ticket prices.

The pricing policy of the Bolshoi Theatre has been criticized before

The ticket prices for theatres have also been repeatedly criticized by the People's Artist Nikolai Tsiskaridze. According to the ballet star, in the USSR, people could afford to go to the theatre, whereas now the price of a ticket, comparable to an average salary, is abnormal. He noted that due to the pricing policy, today only wealthy individuals attend theatres.

At the same time, the artist reminded that theatres exist thanks to taxpayers. "People have already paid for the maintenance of these theatres," he pointed out.

The First Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on Culture, Elena Drapeko, supported Nikolai Tsiskaridze's statement.

We allocate a substantial amount of money in the Russian budget each year for the maintenance of state theatres. Meanwhile, taxes are primarily paid by less affluent citizens.

According to the official, if we look at who currently pays the most income tax, we can conclude that the main taxpayers do not attend the theatre. In this regard, Drapeko advocated for the expansion of flexible pricing practices in theatres. In her opinion, it is necessary to maintain both expensive seats in the front rows and boxes, as well as discounted and concession tickets.

For his part, the director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Valery Gergiev, stated that "this is how tickets are sold all over the world." "[Starting] from first class, then business class, then economy class, economy comfort, and so on," he noted and explained that this is generally common everywhere. Ticket prices at the Bolshoi increased at the beginning of 2024.

Speculation with tickets for the Bolshoi Theatre has begun in Russia

Amid high prices for theatrical performances in Russia, incidents of speculation have increasingly been reported. For instance, back in 2017, fraudsters created duplicate websites and sold tickets for cultural events happening in Moscow at inflated prices. The scammers deceived those wishing to engage with the arts for 130 million rubles.

In November 2023, another incident occurred — people stood in long lines for tickets to "The Nutcracker" at the Bolshoi Theatre. They were given wristbands with queue numbers, and only then they went directly to get their tickets.

During that crush, two individuals were injured. They later filed a collective complaint against the Bolshoi Theatre. Potential spectators hoped for compensation for moral damages due to "improper organization of ticket sales." The victims also requested that the theatre's management be held accountable for "organizing mass disorder."

Starting from October 1, 2024, the Bolshoi Theatre began selling tickets only based on passport information. Now, a person's personal information must be included in the ticket. If the provided data does not match, the spectator will not be able to attend the performance. The theatre stated that such measures were introduced to prevent speculation.