Culture Ministry Dismisses Alexandra Kusa from SNG Director Post

Bratislava, August 7 (TASR) - The Culture Ministry decided to dismiss Alexandra Kusa from the post of Slovak National Gallery (SNG) director due to the institution's ineffective management, the ministry's communications department has informed TASR.
        The ministry criticised Kusa's procedures in the reconstruction of the gallery and pointed to a potential conflict of interests. It also accused her of mismanaging public finances and of failing to use the SNG premises sufficiently.
        "The ministry views the general director's procedure in the reconstruction of the SNG building, which involved several managerial failures, as unacceptable," said the ministry's spokesperson Petra Bacinska. She indicated a potential conflict of interests in this connection, as the now already former director has a close family relationship with an authorised representative of the original contractor for the SNG reconstruction project.
        The ministry also pointed to the financing and presentation of Slovak culture at events organised by SNG at home and abroad. It can detect the mismanagement of public finances, for example, in the case of the prestigious Biennale in Venice, for which the ministry allocated €300,000, but the presentation was inappropriate. The ministry also criticised the utilisation of the SNG premises and "the strangeness" of professional decisions when organising exhibitions. "The director has been ignoring a whole range of Slovak artists for a long time, not exhibiting their pieces of work in SNG," said the ministry spokesperson.
        Dismissed director Alexandra Kusa plans to comment on circumstances of her dismissal on Wednesday afternoon.
        The ministry has tasked crisis manager Anton Bittner with managing the gallery. "He comes to SNG with more than thirty years of experience in managing and transforming organisations. He is a renowned crisis manager and expert in stabilising organisations and developing them," said the ministry.
        Bittner himself has set stabilising the institution and creating sound foundations for its further development as his priorities. "I believe that with the support of an expert team, we can provide stability and at the same time bring new initiatives that will move SNG to a higher level," he said. His ambition is to increase the efficiency of internal processes and strengthen SNG's position in Slovakia and abroad.
        Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) on Tuesday (August 6) dismissed Matej Drlicka from the post of the Slovak National Theatre (SND) general director. Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party representatives at a subsequent news conference said that she also intended to dismiss the SNG chief and Slovak National Museum (SNM) general director Branislav Panis.