The culture budget could be increased by a billion compared to the proposal

Prague - The budget of the Ministry of Culture could be increased by nearly one billion korunas next year compared to the proposal that the government submitted in June. At today's press conference, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek stated this. He said that the demands of the ministries of culture and education were, in his opinion, if not directly met, at least partially resolved. "I have the feeling that almost one billion (will go) into culture, but that is more a question for the Minister of Culture," he said. The Ministry of Culture is clarifying its statement with CTK.
    In the original draft budget for next year, the government planned expenditures on culture amounting to 6.7 billion korunas, which is about 1.2 billion korunas less than this year. According to the proposal, the amount that the state will allocate to culture next year was to be only 0.59 percent of the state budget. And this at a time when the government's commitment is to increase expenditures on culture to one percent. This year, it was 0.77 percent.
    Only three ministers abstained from voting on the June proposal - besides Václav Jehlička, Džamila Stehlíková and Martin Bursík.
    Since the announcement of the proposal, the Minister of Culture has pointed out that a significant reduction in the ministry's budget would negatively affect support for live arts; he has also begun to consider savings, for example, by merging or abolishing some contributory organizations.
    A few days ago, he informed CTK that he is still in intensive negotiations with the Minister of Finance. However, if the budget for culture were to be reduced according to the June proposal, Jehlička would not vote for it.
    The Ministry of Culture stated that if the Chamber of Deputies were to accept the original government proposal in this form, the realization of several significant cultural events in the field of live arts could be jeopardized. Specifically, in the area of grants, which are a significant contribution to visual arts, music, theater, dance, and literature, the proposal would bring a significant change. Almost one-fifth of this year's amount was to be earmarked for them.
    Regarding the consideration of whether it would be possible to save more on mandatory expenditures, Jehlička commented that administrative expenses had already been reduced this year. Salaries of state employees in the field of culture, numbering about 7000, are on average 17,000 korunas, which is below the average salary in the Czech Republic.
    Jehlička still believes that during the discussion of the budget in the Chamber of Deputies, the amount for his ministry will be increased. He wants to convince his government colleagues that culture is an asset that needs to be invested in. Every koruna invested in culture is twice valued, he says with reference to the so-called multiplier effect, where investments in cultural assets attract investments in other services.