Culture Ministry demands more money for cultural activities

Slovakia's Culture Ministry has proposed that the volume of state funds earmarked for cultural activities triple by 2010 from the current 0.6 percent of GDP. According to the Cultural Policy Strategy Draft presented to the government by the Culture Minister Rudolf Chmel on Thursday, the amount of state finances slated for the culture development has been steadily falling over the past ten years. The ministry based its proposal to raise their volume on an assumption that the budgetary revenues should be much higher in the years ahead. "We want to prove that culture isn't a black hole where state funds are wasted," Chmel stated.

The funds should be used for financing such priority issues as decentralisation and stabilisation of the culture infrastructure, a revitalisation of the local film industry or protection of cultural and historical sites. The money should also be spent on completion of a transparent grant system and development of the artistic artefacts market. "We can document the areas where the conditions are alarming and we have the means for achieving the optimum state," Chmel pointed out. The ministry also intends to use part of these funds to establish a transparent system for the support of ethnic minorities' cultural activities, and focus on cultural education.