The event industry criticizes state support during Covid-19 / Article / LSM.lv

The current state aid policy has been sharply criticized by the paralyzed Covid-19 industry. A study conducted by the Latvian Academy of Culture in May concluded that only half of the creative persons who applied for the downtime benefit had received it. And a large part, knowing that they do not meet the criteria, has not applied to the State Revenue Service at all.

For many artists, event organizers and their supporters, such as sound and light companies, the last job was four months ago. Due to Covid-19, the restrictions on gatherings no longer allowed concerts, theater performances, conferences and other events to take place. Some of them have been moved to the digital environment, but, as the industry debate said, you can’t make money with it.

“It is not an activity, it is to a large extent reassuring oneself and not losing professional skills,” said Juris Millers, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Producers’ Union.

The organizers of the event emphasized that cafes and hotels are resuming work, albeit slowly, while the event industry is finding it more difficult to ease restrictions.

“Even without the current regulation deteriorating, our turnover could recover to a maximum of 20-25%,” said Guntis Ērglis-Lācis, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Event Producers Association.

Therefore, state aid must continue, stressed the industry. Experiences with previous help, such as downtime benefits, are mixed.

“We realized that technical support companies are considered to be some kind of evil merchants who are always ripping a lot of money for their stages, sounds and lights. And no one really wants to think about them, ”said Normunds Eilands, the head of the Association of Technical Support for the Events Industry.

“I know a lot of musicians who received these maximum downtime benefits. But there were a much larger number of those who did not meet these criteria and did not receive these benefits, ”revealed Agnese Cimuška-Rekke, Executive Director of the Latvian Music Development and Export Association.

The new Employment Program for Creative Persons is also criticized. “I have not received this support either. And according to a survey of our Society of Self-Employed Musicians, 86% of respondents did not qualify either, ”said Ralph Eiland, a representative of the Society of Self-Employed Musicians.

In the discussion, the Ministry of Culture emphasized that it had done everything in its power, but not all proposals had received support from the government. The new Creative Persons Employment Program will be revised in the coming days.

–