Most spread form of corruption in culture is promotion of pseudo-value, opinion leaders

The most spread form of corruption in culture is the promotion of pseudo-value, say Chisinau opinion leaders from the area of culture, Info-Prim Neo reports. The public money for cultural activities are distributed not according to performance criteria but to clientele principles, considers [theater critic Constantin Cheianu]. “Not the talented artists, but the artists that are convenient for the government have access to publishing houses, theaters and concert halls. A writer and an artist that cause problems to the government somehow cannot implement a creation project in a theater or a concert hall. At the same time, the writers and artists that support the government are offered financial and logistic support,” Constantin Cheianu said. The critic gave as example writer Ion Druta, who, according to him, is an active supporter of the Communist government, and could carry out last year a number of activities and projects with a budget of about 10 million lei for printing books and staging plays. He was also awarded the National Literature Prize. “Normally, when a book is published from public money a contest is announced for state and private publishing houses. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism did not observe this practice and entrusted a state publishing house with the task of printing Druta’s books,” Cheianu said. [Alexandru Grecu, the art director of Satiricus Ion Luca Caragiale Theater] said that the appointment of incompetent persons to posts is also corruption. “The ruling class needs this brigade of employees to supervise the institutions of culture, but such functionaries, who have no elementary training in the area, hold the posts under protection or after paying money,” Grecu said. The interviewed opinion leaders did not omit the issue of privatization of the Moldovan institutions of culture. “The privatization of the Chisinau Circus or of the Chisinau district that includes Luceafarul Theater is a relevant example of corruption at the high level,” the art director of Satiricus Ion Luca Caragiale Theater said. Asked about the fight against corruption carried out by the state institutions, the opinion leaders said that not many accomplishments were achieved in the area of culture. “When I find out about thieves or functionaries caught offering bribe, I consider this bait for fools. Corruption flourishes at state level and I cannot understand how things are managed in our country,” Alexandru Grecu said. “A several-month-long program aimed at fighting corruption or several roundtable meetings involving numerous functionaries cannot even slightly improve the situation in our country. The people expect the government, regardless of its political color, to take drastic measures to combat corruption in all the fields, including culture,” said [Andrei Locoman, manager of Eugen Ionesco Theater]. All the three persons consider that the steps that must be taken to reduce corruption include the enforcement of the law, improvement of the existent normative framework, identification of the causes of corruption and punishment of the corrupt persons according to the law. “The punishment should not be imposed selectively, according to the dislike and preference for the people working in the area of culture,” Andrei Locoman said. “No matter how much the government invests in reforms, we should not forget that the people are the most important and their psychology does not change by order or when concessions are made. The people need education. Therefore, the level of culture should be increased. When they invest in these two areas, we will have indeed a change of mentality,” Alexandru Grecu said. “The public tolerance of corruption will be reduced when the state pursues an extensive education policy that would cover all the education steps – from kindergarten to university - not only separate actions,” Constantin Cheianu said. Moldova’s Threshold Country Program commits the Government to undertake specific and needed reforms to control corruption with the help of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and provides material and technical assistance in five distinct areas. The TCP for Moldova is a $24.7 million initiative implemented during 2007-2008. It will improve Moldova’s eligibility for MCC Compact Assistance.