A new National Cultural Capital Fund is being set up to support entrepreneurs, associations and foundations working in the field of culture, which have been restricted due to the restrictions imposed to reduce the spread of Covid-19 (VKKF), representatives of the Ministry of Culture (Ministry of Culture) inform the portal “Delfi”.
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Under this targeted program, entrepreneurs, associations and foundations will be partially reimbursed for the direct operating costs incurred during the existence of the Covid-19 restrictions.
On Thursday, July 9, the Saeima Budget and Finance (Tax) Commission approved the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of June 16 to allocate financial resources from the state budget program “Contingency Funds” to implement the action plan of the Ministry of Culture (MC) for comprehensive support for culture and activities. industry, business, creators and non-governmental organizations to mitigate the negative effects of the Covid-19 crisis.
According to the Ministry of Culture, the SCCF plans to announce the submission of projects in several target programs for the creation of cultural offer and ensuring the sustainability of cultural institutions in the near future. One of the most important planned support measures in the MoC is the 2.4 million euro target program “Sustainability of Cultural Institutions Affected by Covid-19”, which aims to support businesses, associations and foundations whose activities are related to the provision of permanent public cultural events and which has been limited in Latvia. Due to restrictions imposed by Covid-19. Within the framework of this target program, it is planned to partially compensate the mentioned merchants, associations and foundations for the fixed expenses incurred during the existence of the restrictions, which are related to regular monthly payments and compensation of employees.
The target program is planned to announce two competitions for the period from March to June, and for the period from July to September, the first application round being organized in August.
The program regulations are currently being developed by VKKF and KM experts in close cooperation with representatives of the culture and event industry, including the Latvian Association of Event Producers, the Latvian Association of Event Venues and the Association of Contemporary Culture NGOs. The SCCF council is expected to approve the regulations of the target program, including the support criteria, as early as next week.
As previously informed by the Ministry of Culture, the emergency situation caused by Covid-19 in the country and measures related to its spread in 2020 had a significant impact on the cultural sector, where creative people, non-governmental organizations, private sector, state and municipal institutions and corporations were completely suspended. The established distance requirements and restrictions on the course of events have suspended the opportunities for the provision of cultural institutions and services in person during the emergency situation from 13 March to 9 June 2020. Even after the end of the emergency, a number of restrictions, although relaxed, have remained in place, preventing those working in the cultural sector from fully resuming their creative and economic activities, thus having a significant negative impact on the viability of all cultural sectors.
It has already been reported that the government has decided to allocate 32 million euros for measures to overcome the Covid-19 crisis and economic recovery for investment in culture, according to the action plan proposed by the Ministry of Culture: 10.4 million euros for modernization measures in the cultural sector – public procurement for new cultural values, 10.6 million euros Mitigation of the consequences of Covid-19 in state cultural institutions, as well as 11 million euros for cultural infrastructure.
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