Kalyagin to Beglov: "Wouldn't it be better for you to make a retrenchment of the officials, not of cultural workers?"

As reported by the media with the reference to the blog of the St. Petersburg deputy Maxim Reznik, theaters, museums, libraries, schools and other cultural institutions of St. Petersburg soon will face mass layoffs, Governor of Alexander Beglov instructed to cut every tenth (!) State employee.

“There are no censorship words. The governor of the cultural capital of Russia is laying off workers of cultural institutions. I demand from Beglov to cancel the planned cuts in the sphere of culture, ”the deputy wrote.

The profile committee asks to submit by July 24 their proposals to reduce the number of state institutions by 10%. "All organizational and staffing activities must be completed by November 1, 2020", - the document states.

In this regard, the Chairman of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia, Alexander Kalyagin, published an open letter to Governor Beglov on the website of this organization:

“Dear Alexander Dmitrievich!

I was shocked that your decision to reduce the staff of officials was so monstrously corrected, and as a result, the Governor's Instruction arises, according to which the Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg sends a directive to its subordinate organizations (theaters, museums, libraries, etc.), demanding from the management as soon as possible to provide proposals for the reduction of their employees.

Is it these organizations, already with a staff cut to the limit, that should be cut in the first place?

Will the reduction of employees with beggarly salaries - enthusiasts who have devoted their lives to their favorite work - help the city budget?

Why not cut the staff of officials, whose salaries are several times higher than the salaries of people working in the field of culture?

I am, to put it mildly, at a loss. This is serious? Is this a wise government decision? This is the most complete absurdity!

Not only my colleagues from St. Petersburg, but also all the people of the theater from different Russian cities have been calling me since yesterday night. The whole theater community is outraged.

And this is all the more strange because Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin just said that in the current situation it is unacceptable to cut staff in budgetary institutions.

I am sure that in case of the execution of this Order of yours, irreparable, catastrophic consequences may arise for the development of the cultural life of the capital city.

I am not afraid of this statement, thus destroying the culture of St. Petersburg, and you do it according to a well-known and well-established scheme: reduce subsidies, cut staff, and what next? Will the cherished goal be achieved? There will be fewer theaters, and as a result, the northern capital will lose its significance as the cultural capital of Russia ... "

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However, Beglov's exploits in this field are not at all limited to cuts in cultural workers. Earlier, he ordered to deprive the budgetary support and non-state theaters of St. Petersburg, but he will support various events that have very little to do with culture. Theater critic Marina Dmitrevskaya comments on the situation as follows:

“Against the background of the total lack of support by the Committee for Culture of non-state theaters in St. Petersburg (we will still write about this when we wait for the Committee's comments), it is not 10 million to the Russian Entreprise and 5 million to the same organization for the Figaro Prize ceremony that amazes. We have already got used to this hell, this is a cute city hell...

7 million amazed at the Petersburg Drizzle ("Peterburgskaya moros") festival (WHO KNOWS THIS???) and 14 million at the "Theatrical Defile" festival (for comparison - Volodinsky received 800,000). Colleagues, who knows what this "THEATER DEFILE" festival is? It is conducted by the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization “Institute for Cultural and Humanitarian Projects”...

And Petersburg Drizzle ("Peterburgskaya moros") is a child of the Autonomous Institution of the Military - Patriotic Club "Alexander Nevsky and Izhora Land"...

A KIND OF A MIRROR WORLD..."