The present work analyses the reforms of cultural institutions financing system in Russia from the mid 1980s to the present time. A short review of the government’s  activities  is  given  in  respect  of  transition  from  purely  state  financing to multichannel system of forming cultural institutions’ budgets, changing their legal nature, and developing their commercial activities. Processes of management decentralization and reallocation of financing onto budgets of various levels are considered. Special attention is paid to introduction of market mechanisms into activities of such institutions, problems connected with their application are touched as well. Both positive and negative consequences of the policy pursued by the government in matters of financing the culture at different stages of the reforms are investigated. The analysis result  indicates  that  preservative  tendencies  prevail  in  the  government’s  activity in the cultural sphere, and budgetary funds still make the basis of the budget in the most part of cultural institutions, conservatism and inertness in their activities remain.