Sergiu Prodan
Acting Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan, in office since August 2021, noted the need to adopt a separate law on the sectoral system of labor remuneration in culture. In his opinion, the existing system, regulated by the Law on the Unified System of Labor Remuneration in the Budgetary Sector, does not take into account the specifics of the artists’ profession.
“We managed to increase the salaries of professional artists and cultural workers by 25%. It seems to be a lot, but it is also not enough at the same time. If the salary is low, a 25% raise means almost nothing; if the salary is high, 25% is very good. That’s why we need in the future – and I hope that this issue will be resolved in the next ministry – a separate law on salaries in culture, a sectoral one. No matter how terrible it sounds, we will fail as long as the law equates civil servants with artists. A ballet dancer can become a civil servant in two months, but a civil servant will never become a ballet dancer, an instrumentalist or a valuable artist”, – said the Minister at the final press conference.
In his opinion, such a separate law “would support talent, reveal genius and move away from a simple seniority-based approach.”
He said that, unlike civil servants, seniority is not the most relevant criterion for a ballet dancer – “youth and talent are arguments that we are losing very quickly.”
“Unfortunately or fortunately, some leave and prove themselves on big international stages – and this is a great pride for us. But we must distinguish between cases where an artiste leaves a country and finds a source of income in any other profession in the economy of that country – this is a sad moment because the artiste gives up his profession. But it is a great success when an artist from our country makes a name for himself on the international stage”.
In total, there are more than 17,000 cultural workers in Moldova, of which only 2,700 are employees of state institutions where the Ministry of Culture is the founder and finances their activities. The rest are established by local authorities.
