< p>The system of operation of theaters is destructive and is called delegated budget. Said in Ashlash language – a chair, a chair. Whoever sits on the chair becomes a levche as a subsidy from the Council of Ministers. Subsidies vary, but for state institutions they are 1:3, and in national institutions up to 1:6, 1:7, 1:8. This is the basic mistake accepted years ago. This is what he announced to Lili Marinkova in the "FACTS" studio. and the show “Conversation“ Prof. Velislav Minekov, former acting minister of culture.
„I gathered in 2021 the directors of the state institutes, which are 52. I will only insert that in France there are 42. And then we talked with the directors about two main damages that are happening – one is Ordinance No. 4, which regulates the election of directors in state institutions, and the other is the delegated budgets. The talk on Ordinance #4 was not well received by the invited principals, but regarding the “game” with the subsidy from the ministry and the delegated budget, there was an understanding that it was getting tired. It's just that theaters are turning into private enterprises that have to think about money”, added the guest.
“Theaters have to think about what will be on stage so that the audience can come and fill up to the last seat. But that's how we get to the so-called “bears” - the famous actors who tour the theaters in the country because they are popular. Then we come to performances by rock bands and pop singers in an opera. And this will not stop today, unless a decision is made at the ministerial level and with several major changes in the Law on Culture”, Minekov also shared.
„As a minister, I received a signal about the Pleven Theater and the director Vasil Vassilev, who is now at the National Theater. The state pays BGN 14 for every ticket sold, and for this reason there is a boom in touring productions throughout Bulgaria. I asked the auditors at the Ministry of Culture to check and they said everything was normal. We see now in Razgrad and Smolyan – things are in the balance between legal and illegal. It's just that directors have certain rights with which they can perform miracles or extremely questionable actions. And now the system has unraveled because there are people who got big money but were threatened. These people complained to the police and that's how everything unraveled," the guest also shared.
See more of the conversation in the VIDEO.