“Eugen Ionesco” Theater has debts of millions, minister

The Theater “Eugen Ionesco” has enormous debts even if the allocation for the institution had been trebled over the last three years, said Minister of Culture Boris Focsa, adding that the debts amount to millions, Info-Prim Neo reports. The minister Friday said that the allocation for the theater is 3 million lei. In 2010, it received an extra 1 million lei for repair works. “I’m afraid that with such debts the theater will be unable to pay salaries to staff. I also want to know where the debts came from when the theater’s budget was trebled,” said Boris Focsa, presuming that the debts appeared after organizing the Festival “Eugene Ionesco Theater Biennale”. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, the theater’s acting director Petru Vutcarau said that the theater has debts, but not of millions of lei, but of slightly over 1 million lei. The debts appeared because the theater does not have an additional budget for renovation and the money planned for other activities was used for repair. “These debts shouldn’t be the theater’s, but the Culture Ministry’s problem as it is the founder and is obliged to create normal working conditions for the employees, but it does not,” he stated. Petru Vutcarau also said that a part of the debts derived from the costs incurred when organizing the festival, in which the Ministry takes part only symbolically. The salaries are paid on time and agreements were reached with all the creditors to pay the debts in installments.