National Culture Fund set up

Chisinau, 14 Dec. /MOLDPRES/- Government yesterday approved a draft law on National Culture Fund, a new financial support mechanism for the independent and private cultural sector in the arts and creative industries. The law is part of the National Action Plan for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the EU and is a priority of the Ministry of Culture for 2023.

According to the Ministry of Culture, the main mission of the Fund is the financing of projects that support contemporary creation and use of heritage, as well as contributing to a good understanding of artistic phenomena and ensuring the widest possible public access to culture. The method of financing from the Fund's sources will be approved by the Government, and its means will be used to support cultural and editorial projects developed within six areas of intervention: initiatives of non-commercial organizations in the field of culture; editorial and literary translation activity; cultural magazines; the field of arts, studies and analysis, including continuing professional training activities in the field of culture; local cultural development programs and artistic and cultural residency and mobility programs.

The sources of Fund's formation start from the budget. Currently, the Culture Fund accumulates all cultural and editorial programs and projects managed by the Ministry of Culture, which amounts to 29.6 million lei, included in the draft state budget law for 2024. The fund will be managed by an implementing institution, subordinate to the Ministry of Culture - the National Art Education Center, which will be reorganized.

"It is a law that has been worked on a lot and we are confident that, already in 2024, the creation of the National Culture Fund will translate into concrete results and impactful cultural projects," Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan said.