Culture Minister Velislav Minekov attended a meeting of the culture and media committee to answer questions from MPs. And his hearing turned into a string of pearls.
Lyuben Dilov-son was the first to ask his questions. They were related to the completed competition of the National Fund “Culture”, which, according to him, had vaguely formulated conditions.
“And it turned out that a project with 20 performances in the Rhodopes was rejected, and Metropolis received a lot of funding, but this is still a nightclub. There are also cases of refusals due to exceeding the budget by only BGN 34 thousand,” he said the deputy of the GERB.
Minekov didn’t seem to recognize him and first asked the name of the deputy who had asked him the question and then replied: “The problem is really serious. There are always disgruntled people. The law is lame and imperfect, why don’t you change it? We have a proposal and we will let it in. The “Culture” fund was suspended this year. A laboratory chemist, for example, evaluates theatrical projects, there are people like that in the commissions”. However, Dilov reiterated that the rules are not drafted in Zokon level.
PP’s Hristo Petrov abruptly changed the subject with his questions to Minekov: “I noticed an important ability to answer precisely and clearly. Svetoslav Traikov is the case study. dogs with antifreeze and takes the side of the denazifiers Ukraine, at the head of a department of his ministry?”
Minekov replied that Traikov was hated during protests in which he actively participated. He sued for libel and was bound to succeed. Minekov also said that Traikov has qualities and will work under him as long as he is a minister, if nothing untoward happens.
From the DPS, the matter was about the appointment of Tatiana Doncheva to the fund “13 centuries Bulgaria”. “I did not understand your question about what I hear and what I don’t hear. Doncheva graduated from the Academy of Music and works as a violinist. I hope to meet you in the Bulgaria Hall, where I always meet her, ”replied Minekov.
Vazrazhdane asked if there is a strategy for studying Thracian burial mounds and how the ministry intends to deal with treasure raids.
“Last year we started the creation of a specialized unit of police for cultural heritage. I hope it can do its job and be just as nasty and dangerous as similar units in other countries. I spoke to the ambassadors about additional equipment and training outside. It’s a pity that treasure hunters have excavated all over Bulgaria. We work with archaeologists, but every year the budget is not enough, this year it hasn’t been increased, but it hasn’t been used either. I have no explanation for this. The year sadly ends unsuccessfully. Most of the sites remained under the sky and were not preserved. Otherwise, we received high-quality and expensive equipment that was taken by treasure hunters.”
The BSP has raised the issue of the North Building of the National Academy of Arts, the condition of which is catastrophic. Plus, it’s still heated with oil and has a prescription that’s dangerous. When asked, Minekov replied, “I have known this building since my childhood. The problem is half a century old. But it is in the hands of the Ministry of Education, they are lying to us that we will receive money, but it is not being received. the building is extremely dangerous, it is shaking. We have unspent funds, which has never happened. Over 56 million has not been spent when I came to the ministry. There was not a single contract, not a single public procurement, already spent 11 million and 200 thousand.
After a quarrel between Minekov and a Gerb-SDS deputy, Kornelia Ninova intervened, addressing the minister in a rather stern tone: “This does not look like a parliamentary check, but a collective gathering to mourn, you scolded us for doing nothing, you’ve shifted the responsibilities onto other people. You’re hampered by laws or lack of laws and no money. The question is who does these things. How many laws have you made since you’ve been a minister and be careful what you answer because I know. Who budget? Why didn’t you present a budget proposal for 2023, which we will tell all the sectors of culture that are now waiting for funding?”.
“We have plans for change. We are implementing the budget for 2022, for the new one we have a 383 million project, for now it is planned like this. But the previous one has not been used, how can I go and ask why it has increased?” . Ninova joined even more passionately, saying: “Minekov presented a single law, but the one on cultural heritage did not reach parliament. If you don’t know how to ask for a budget increase, say that inflation is growing, prices are rising . Say food is getting more expensive and these people can’t pay for their food. You have no excuse not to spend it, I’m sure there are plenty of corporations waiting. It’s an absurd situation. Give your laws to make things happen. things if you can’t tell us what we should do, you apologize by saying that nothing has been done for 7 months, that’s why you haven’t done anything for 6 months”, concluded the social leader.
