Cultural Organisations Slam Arts Support Fund for Scrapping Multi-year Contracts

Bratislava, 19 March (TASR) - Cultural organisations have criticised the Council of the Arts Support Fund (FPU) for cancelling valid contracts for multi-year projects at its meeting on Wednesday (18 March), describing this conduct as illegal and claiming that the Council made the decision without any discussion, TASR has learned from Michal Bereznak, director of the Nova Cvernovka cultural centre. The centre's statement was also supported by the Chamber of Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organisations of the Government Council for NGOs. "The entire discussion on this point lasted just two minutes. However, it affects over 30 projects, many of which are flagships of Slovak culture and from which the FPU Council has cut support totalling more than €2 million," stated Bereznak. He noted that many organisations have already begun preparing or implementing phases of their multi-year projects, and this has incurred significant costs. With the FPU Council cancelling these contracts, the continued existence of several cultural centres, festivals and magazines is now at stake, said Bereznak. The affected organisations are calling on FPU to immediately sign amendments to the existing contracts for 2026. "Otherwise, we are prepared to defend ourselves against this gross unlawfulness and the incurred financial damage by using all available means, including by filing motions with the prosecutor's office or lawsuits," added Bereznak. jrg/df