–
–
Atanas Atanasov
–
During a videoconference meeting initiated by the Minister of Culture Atanas Atanasov with members of the Board of the National Culture Fund, the Minister appealed for the collective resignation of the Management Board in order to restart the Fund’s work, the ministry said.
At the beginning of the meeting it became clear that a few hours earlier two applications for resignation had been sent to the Minister – by Dr. Mirena Staneva, Executive Director of the National Culture Fund, and by Dr. Nelly Stoeva, Chief Assistant in Department of History and Theory of Culture, Sofia University “St. Cl. Ohridski ”and a member of the Management Board. Both resignations were accompanied by professionally substantiated arguments and were accepted by Minister Atanassov, who thanked him for his dedicated work in the Culture Fund over the past few months.
The main argument for the resignation of the Management Board of the National Culture Fund was the accumulated negatives, which cannot be ignored. Minister Atanasov stressed several times that he is aware of the personal responsibility he bears for the election of the members of the Council, but also that under the conditions in which decision-making is currently required, a compromise is leading.
My appeal for the voluntary resignation of each member of the Board of Directors of the National Culture Fund is the conviction that I see this as the only dignified and honest way to try to restore confidence in the work of the Fund – not only publicly but among all people. of art, who rely on his support to realize their projects, “said Minister Atanasov. “I am fully aware that the reason for the suspicions of unprincipled distribution of funds, the promotion of personal bias, as well as the lack of reasons for specific decisions, are not addressed only to the current composition of the Board. As I shared at the meeting, I believe that such a collective sacrifice is worthwhile in the name of the responsibility that lies ahead for the Fund to all those involved in the field of culture. “
Prof. Hristo Yotsov, drummer, arranger and composer, completely agreed with all the arguments presented by Minister Atanasov. The resignations of Boyan Angelov, chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Writers, Georgi Kerezov, representative of the Ministry of Finance and Teodora Dacheva, deputy executive director of the National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria followed.
A categorical refusal to resign was declared by Veliko Marinchevski, assistant professor at the National Academy of Arts, Tsanko Vassilev, cultural manager with over 20 years of experience in contemporary arts and culture and Elena Nikolova, representative of the Ministry of Culture.
The decisions of Ms. Irina Garkova, who has held the positions of “Adviser on Spirituality and Culture” and “Secretary of Spirituality and Culture” in the Presidential Administration, and Silvia Choleva, writer, publisher and journalist, will be sent in writing.
The work in the administration of the National Culture Fund continues intensively, and soon the mechanisms for electing new members of the Management Board will be announced, and Dr. Mirena Staneva will continue to hold the position of Executive Director until the selection procedure.
–
