War Causes Almost $4 Billion in Damage to Ukraine's Culture
Ukraine's cultural sector has suffered nearly $4 billion in losses as a result of Russian aggression, said Tetyana Berezhna, acting Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, during a presentation of the government's action plan.
The Gaze writes about it, referring to Ukrinform.
‘The cultural sector has suffered about $4 billion in losses, in terms of direct losses. If we talk about the lost profits of creative industries and tourism, the amount is even greater - $23 billion,’ Berezhna said.
According to her, there is a clear list of actions to preserve and create new cultural heritage. In particular, it is planned to attract funds from the already established Cultural Heritage Preservation Fund. She noted that by the end of the year, about 500 million hryvnias are expected to be attracted from partners.
‘The second is the ’Great Restoration" programme, within which we plan to restore about 10 cultural monuments within Ukraine. We also understand that we have outdated and irrelevant protocols that provide for the evacuation of cultural heritage from frontline territories, and by updating them, we will also work on preservation," Berezhna said.
She noted that there are also plans to launch a grant programme for creative industries, which will contribute to the creation of new jobs and the development of the sector.
In addition, the priority of the MCSC is to increase the financial autonomy of cultural institutions, in particular by expanding paid services and changing the organisational and legal form for greater independence.
Berezhna stressed that there are also plans to develop cultural diplomacy and international alliances.
‘Through such internal and external work, we aim to cope with the great challenge facing us, namely the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage,’ the minister added.
As The Gaze reported earlier, the European Union plans to help Ukraine protect its cultural heritage and monuments from the effects of the war.