Funding model for theaters and concert halls to be changed in Armenia

YEREVAN, July 13. /ARKA/. The Armenian government will change the model it has been using to finance state-run theaters and concert halls, Education, Science, Culture and Sport Minister Zhanna Andreasyan said today, specifying that they will receive funding in the double amount of anticipated profit.

The minister said state-run  cultural institutions will have to  think about how to increase their own revenues. She said this will be used as a criterion to assess the  quality of their management.

"In 2021 theaters earned 773.9 million drams in profits. On average, the profit from the sale of tickets for one performance was 264 thousand drams," she said.

She noted that the government released about 1.3 billion drams in 2022 to help them improve their infrastructures. According to her, as a result, 90% of state-run theaters and concert halls saw their income grow compared to pre-covid period.

The extra amount can be used by the theaters and concert halls to improve their maintenance, raise staff salaries, stage new performances. The pilot program will be first implemented this year at the Spendiarov Opera and Ballet Theater in Yerevan.

"This year we have already provided 1.4 billion drams to the Opera and Ballet Theater. Taking into account its anticipated own revenues, the total financing of the theater should amount to 1.68 billion drams. In this case we will additionally provide 233.5 million drams to the theater," she noted.

The minister specified that theaters will have to do at least two new ballet and opera productions a year and can invite foreign specialists.