Armenia’s cultural sector to receive AMD 5 bln less state funding in 2013

YEREVAN, November 2. /ARKA/. Armenia’s cultural sector will receive 9.8 billion drams from the budget funds, which is nearly 5 billion drams less compared to the last year, deputy finance minister Pavel Safaryan said Friday during the budget hearings.

 

“First of all, this is due to finishing credit program on repairing National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater after Spendiaryan and Concert Hall after A. Khachaturyan,” he said.

 

According to Safaryan, the total funding to the sphere will be reserved at the same level.

 

“Expenditures for libraries stand at 1.2 billion drams. There are total of 1154 workers in Armenia’s libraries, and their average salaries will amount to 71, 313 instead of the last year’ 58, 093 drams,” Safaryan noted.

However, even after such increase in salaries, librarians will not see changes in their actual income: it will just offset the amount subject to new income tax increase.

 

From January 1, 2013 a new law on income tax will be introduced. Today an employer has to pay most of social charges of each employee, however, after January 1, social charges will be withdrawn directly from employees’ salaries. All employers will have to raise salaries of their workers in order to save their real income of their workers.

Safaryan also said 1.6- billion- dram museum funding will remain unchanged, and salaries of museum workers will stand at 58,700 drams. 

Furthermore, 635 million drams from budget funds will be poured to cinematography development, and 5 billion drams- to art. ($1 – 405.96 drams). -0-