The Culture Ministry instructed the Slovak National Gallery (SNG) on March 30, shortly before the leadership change at the ministry, to launch renovation work on its building at an estimated total cost of €30 million over a span of three years, the TASR newswire reported.
"After more than ten years of waiting there's a realistic opportunity at last for Bratislava to have a renovated SNG building following the revamp of the Reduta building," said outgoing Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party. Krajcer said that controversy over SNG's reportedly overpriced web site was one of the reasons for delays in the gallery’s reconstruction work.
"The real cost [for the website] was just over €7,000, not €25,000 as paid out by SNG before I took up the post [of culture minister]. The general director [Alexandra Kusa] brought specific people to account, and SNG will have to return €17,000 to the budget of the Culture Ministry," said Krajcer.
Nonetheless, a lack of resources was the primary reason for not starting the reconstruction Krajcer stated, adding that the final cost may actually be one-fifth lower than the planned €30 million. Though the required funding is included in the budget it will be up to incoming Culture Minister Marek Maďarič to decide whether to proceed.
"What I view as important is that I've managed to find the funding needed, in other words to push for it," said Krajcer.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
