“Burgas is the host, but Bulgaria is the stage,” Culture Minister Evtim Miloshev said about Bulgaria hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in an interview for BNT's programme "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov' on September 20.
Evtim Miloshev, Minister of Culture: “I can only welcome the efforts and energy that Mrs Milotinova is putting in. I believe the process is under control – Eurovision has found a fantastic host in Burgas. A few days ago, I also met with Mr Nikolov, the mayor of Burgas. There is also a huge focus, energy and attention there on this issue – ensuring that Bulgaria is a fantastic host. At the Ministry of Culture, we are reviewing the enormous interest in accompanying events. We are passing these on to Deputy Prime Minister Hristov and to the organising committee we established at ministerial level, so that all these accompanying events around the main event can be supported. Burgas is the host, but Bulgaria is the stage. This is a platform that we all have every opportunity to use in the right and most effective way to show Europe and the world a modern, dynamic image of Bulgaria."
On the Boyana Film Studios, the minister said:
Film industry stages protest over future of Boyana Film Studios
Evtim Miloshev, Culture Minister: “Boyana Film Studios is a private commercial company. This process took place 20 years ago. I could talk at length about this because I have been part of this industry myself for 35 years and know the processes in depth – I even remember them. When the Film Centre was privatised, 580 decares were set aside so that the state would have the option, if it decided to create film infrastructure, to do so. Boyana started 20 years ago with 300 decares. Over those 20 years, the Film Centre has not lost any of its property. This year, the Public Enterprises and Control Agency placed a new 10-year mortgage on Boyana Film Studios because that is what the privatisation agreement requires, which constitutes excessive security. The latest reporting period ends in the summer of 2027. These are speculations. Enough! I am not Boyana Film Studios’ lawyer. I am the Culture Minister and when the issue is raised in this way, I do not accept it. My main focus is on film infrastructure, teams able to work, and financial incentives for film production. Bulgaria should be a place where a film industry can be developed. We want international productions to come here, which is primarily linked to the qualifications of the crews and financial incentives – both matters of government policy.”
On the problems facing the culture sector, the minister said:
Evtim Miloshev, Culture Minister: “As someone who has moved from the private sector into culture, into the administration of the cultural process, and who works with people in the cultural sector, I am, to put it mildly, surprised. There are far too many problems that have been left unresolved for years. And I am not saying this in the sense of ‘we inherited them’. In every area of the cultural sector, there are incredibly painful, forgotten, buried problems that need to be addressed. It is about money, but to a very large extent it is also about negligence, a lack of humanity in the administration of these processes over the years, and a faceless bureaucracy. But I am genuinely deeply shocked by what I have found. Culture exists in a material environment – galleries, theatres, libraries and community cultural centres. This is part of the Ministry of Culture’s capital investment programme, and that capital programme is wholly inadequate for all the needs of these state and national cultural institutions.”
On the hunger strike by an orchestra musician at the Bulgarian National Radio, Miloshev said:
Evtim Miloshev, Culture Minister: “It concerned me deeply, I admit. The Bulgarian National Radio is a first-level budget spending authority. We have no administrative control over one another. But in a moral and professional context, and in terms of concern for and attention to artists, this directly affects me. I have to tell you that I have worked very actively with these ensembles over the past three years. I know them personally – they are wonderful orchestral musicians, artists and cultural professionals. From the very beginning of this term of office, I have been in active dialogue with Mr Mitev and I believe we will find a solution. Perhaps he did not want it to happen more quickly, but I believe the entire government is committed to this and that we are not far from finding a sustainable solution for the ensembles at the Bulgarian National Radio.”
Чуй новините
Подкаст
