Milanova: Culture Ministry Launches €15 million Call for Cultural Institutions

Bratislava, August 10 (TASR) – The Culture Ministry has launched on Tuesday a call for cultural institutions founded by either regions or towns and municipalities, Culture Minister Natalia Milanova (OLaNO) told a press conference on the same day, adding that €15 million from EU funds has been earmarked for their modernisation or restoration, but support can be increased to €20 million in the event of a great interest and quality projects.

“While previous governments declared how important the regions are to them, there was virtually no support in the field of regional culture in real terms. We are pioneers, because thanks to our call we can help develop regional culture,” said Milanova.

The funds can be used to modernise houses of culture, galleries, libraries and observatories. The minimum amount of subsidies for libraries and observatories is €30,000, for other institutions €50,000, and the maximum amount of subsidies is €200,000.

Chairman of SK8 Self-governing Regions Association Jozef Viskupic stated that in Slovakia there are more than 220 cultural institutions founded by self-governing regions. “If the founders, cultural departments in self-governing regions do their homework and prepare sufficiently high-quality projects, they’ll be able to respond to this challenge. I think we have something to look forward to and funds will be used flexibly, efficiently, meaningfully and help eliminate the investment debt as well as the covid situation,” noted Viskupic.