Antiquities chief warns budget cuts will harm Cyprus heritage protection

Nicosia, Cyprus. The director of the antiquities department, Dr George Georgiou, has cautioned that further reductions to its funding will affect how Cyprus safeguards its cultural heritage. He spoke at a session of the House finance committee reviewing the budget of the deputy ministry of culture.

Warning from the antiquities department

Georgiou told the committee that “The continued compression of spending on antiquities will not be without a price.” He also accused the government of using “creative accounting” when presenting the department’s reduced funding.

Related: Restoration of frescoes and iconostasis completed at Saint Barnabas monastery in Famagusta

RelatedRestoration of frescoes and iconostasis completed at Saint Barnabas monastery in Famagusta

Deputy minister’s response

The deputy ministry’s proposed budget for next year is €64.3 million, compared with the current €65.7 million. Deputy Minister Clea Hadjistefanou Papaellina explained that the earlier figure contained €2.2 million for cultural events held during Cyprus’ EU council presidency. She said that without this sum, next year’s budget would be €820,000 higher.

Departmental allocations

The antiquities department has been given €23.6 million. Of this, €19.9 million covers recurrent expenditure and €3.8 million is for development projects.

The contemporary culture department is due to receive €21.1 million, with €15.6 million of it set aside for development spending. Its director, Ioanna Hadjicosti, said sponsorship programmes had lost €300,000, with the cuts distributed among the different schemes.

Opposition criticism

Akel MP Christos Christofides questioned the government’s commitment to culture. He said the deputy ministry’s portion of overall state spending had dropped from 0.62 per cent to 0.45 per cent.

Christofides also criticised lower funding for cultural grant programmes, among them support for theatre productions and contemporary cultural creation. He added that Cyprus is close to the bottom of European rankings for the proportion of public spending going to culture.