On 2 February, President of Latvia Egils Levits welcomed Minister for Culture Nauris Puntulis to the Riga Castle for a meeting on a wide range of activities managed by Ministry of Culture and Minister’s next priorities. Officials exchanged views on this summer’s Song and Dance Festival preparations. Minister Puntulis emphasised that one of his priorities as a minister in this government will be to agree on the pay raise for festival organisers and directors.
Future of KGB building ‘Corner House’ was another topic discussed by Minister and President. Egils Levits and Nauris Puntulis agreed that Museum of the Occupation of Latvia section in the KGB building ‘Corner House’ must be guaranteed safe operations and the overall strategy for this building must also be found through constructive dialogue.
Minister Puntulis informed President Levits about construction of a concert hall at the location of Congress Hall of Riga. President praised Minister for initiating the planning process and recently announced international sketch design competition that will conclude in May.
President of Latvia asked about the progress with forming of historical Latvian land development councils and future support for historical land projects. Egils Levits acknowledged the decision to allocate basic funding for this initiative and encouraged to consider ways of ensuring sustainable funding for this programme in future.
President and Minister also talked about funding for regional initiatives of State Culture Capital Foundation (SCCF). According to Minister, 1.37 million euros of funding from additional excise tax revenue has been approved for 2023, which is the transition year, and 3% of all taxes (excise and gambling) will be collected by SCCF as fixed rate from 2024 onwards.
President also enquired about Media Support Foundation and its efforts to continue efficient support for quality media.
