Photo: “For the Truth”.
The municipality of Dryanovo will receive a grant of BGN 102,000 under the project “New Generation of Local Cultural Policies for Small Municipalities” under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan. However, there are conditions – the municipality must co-finance the project activities with 25% of its value.
And there is one more condition: the Municipality of Dryanovo must have its own “Culture” fund, which will be managed under regulations adopted by the Municipal Council.
Dryanovo began preparing early on to absorb the money for culture. The local authorities took a pragmatic approach, announcing back in the summer that the aim of the application was to use the project money to fund the autumn and Christmas holidays in the town.
In June, at the regular meeting of the Municipal Council, Mayor Trifon Panchev was given the green light to submit a project proposal to the National Culture Fund. With the same decision, local parliamentarians agreed that the municipality would contribute 25 percent of the total cost of the project proposal to the financing of the project activities. No specific amount was voted on at that time, as it was not clear how much the municipality would receive and whether its project would be approved at all.
In July, the municipal councilors approved the rules of procedure for the municipal Culture Fund and decided to establish it. Cooperatives registered under the Cooperatives Act, community centers, creative unions, cultural organizations under the Protection and Development of Culture Act, natural and legal persons, and freelance artists will be able to apply to the fund with projects, the municipal councilors decided.
This was a far-reaching decision against the backdrop of Mayor Panchev’s assumption that this fund is unlikely to have a long life, implying that its creation is mainly to provide funding for culture until the end of the year, but it is not impossible that his prediction may prove wrong. In fact, the fact that the money has already been allocated for the autumn and winter holidays does not leave much room for other possibilities.
By the end of the week, municipal councilors in Dryanovo will gather for an extraordinary meeting to approve the municipality’s contribution to the project “New Generation of Local Policies for Culture in Small Municipalities.” According to preliminary materials for the meeting, it amounts to BGN 25,536, and it is unlikely that this amount will be changed, as the Municipal Council approved the percentage of its own contribution to the project months ago.
