BNS: PM surprised at Vilnius European Capital of Culture 2009 call to do in w/ establishment
Updated 2009-02-10
VILNIUS, Feb 09, BNS - Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius was shocked to find that Vilnius European Capital of Culture (VECC) 2009 has proposed to its founders - the Ministry of Culture and Vilnius Municipality - to do away with the establishment, and urges to immediately go ahead with the planned program."I can only say that Vilnius - European Capital of Culture is in-the-works and will continue to be, 25 million litas (EUR 7.2 million) has been allocated toward this cause", Kubilius on Monday told the press. This sum is quite hefty in terms of the current economic situation Lithuania is facing, said the Cabinet leader.
"And I would opt for a stop to these discussions on whether the money is sufficient or not, and instead take-off with actual implementation of those programs, which can be implemented", the prime minister stressed.
Public establishment VECC 2009 on Monday suggested that its founders - the Lithuanian Culture Ministry and the Vilnius Municipality - should consider the possibility of closing the establishment, and allocate administrative costs towards implementation of the national program.
VECC's administrative costs at this time come at about 3.8 million litas, spokesman Albertas Barauskas said. Vilnius Municipality should be one to allocate this money, however the city budget for 2009 is yet to be approved There are a total of 43 people employed in the organization.
The Vilnius municipality should provide funds for 4.3 million litas worth of cultural, arts and public projects, 7 million litas worth of national program marketing and communication, as well as 3.8 million litas for administrative costs, VECC said. The grant stipulated in the Vilnius city budget is 5.2 million litas."The sum is three times lower than the established need," reads the VECC press release issued on Monday. The VECC has been granted 25 million litas (EUR 7.2 mln) from the state budget for the 2009 program, with the money to be directly administered by the Ministry of Culture.
The VECC and cultural project facilitators say even the revised program is still short of 7 million litas. The government has said additional funding is not in the cards for the program. In mid-January, the European Commission's mission in Vilnius expressed regret over the budget cuts of Vilnius European Capital of Culture (VECC) 2009.
Vilnius is the first capital of Eastern European and Baltic countries to be granted the prestigious title of European Capital of Culture. Vilnius assumed this title in 2009 together with Austria's city of Linz.
