"So far, the State's efforts to uphold the nation's heritage do not measure up to its importance for society," Vladimir Putin said, adding effective mechanisms are needed to provide greater financial assistance to culture.
He said rural clubs are especially desperate for financial support, adding there are more than 50,000 in the country, but only 50% of their needs are met at the very best.
Putin also said the government should give higher priority to the development of the Russian language and culture, adding 2007 will be a Year of Russian.
He said Russian is the mother tongue of 288 million people throughout the world.
"Russian is a reliable guarantee of the successful development of humanitarian and economic relations with other countries, above all the CIS States," he said.
