site.btaCulture Minister Presents Report on Ministry's Activity

Caretaker Culture Minister Prof. Velislav Minekov and his deputies Prof. Borislava Taneva and Assoc. Prof. Plamen Slavov presented on Tuesday a report of their activities to the media, within the framework of the administration of the caretaker government.

"This third mandate was spent under enormous pressure. It was not like the first two. The tension was multifaceted. Our path was a minefield. Unfortunately, the sound of the mines was heard more than what we were doing, more than our intentions, and more than what had already been achieved. All this was overshadowed, even events that were of great importance for our country," Minekov said.

"As for the mandate, we managed to start the spending of funds that were abandoned for reasons unclear to me. They were distributed, directed wherever there was a need. We saved schools, saved monuments," he added.

Minekov explained that he and his team managed to save museums and museum workers an additional BGN 5.5 million.

Over 1,700 artists received creative scholarships for a total of BGN 7 million, and BGN 38 million from the National Culture Fund reached its recipients, down to the last penny, the minister noted.

Minekov commented that he is uncertain whether he will be a minister again. "I haven't had a conversation yet, but the pressure was huge. (...) You know I'm intolerant about the outrages that are happening, about the corruption that I've seen in the past. The fight was too hard and it will continue for a long time, since, apart from being a minister, I continued to be a citizen as well," said the Minister.