"The available resources of the Deputy Ministry of Culture are being fully utilized," said Deputy Minister of Culture Klea Hatzistefanou Papaellina, on Friday before the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, which was discussing the budget of the Deputy Ministry of Culture for the year 2027.
In her opening remarks before the Committee, the Deputy Minister of Culture stated that “Culture is the foundation of our identity, a connecting link in our historical journey, and a precious legacy for future generations.”
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The budget of the Deputy Ministry of Culture amounts to €64.3 million, compared to €65.7 million in 2026, she noted, adding that the 2026 budget had included expenditures of €2.2 million related to the Cultural Program of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2026. If this amount is excluded, then the 2027 budget shows an increase of €0.82 million, he pointed out.
Recurrent expenditures account for 65.6% of the total budget, while development expenditures account for 34.4%, Ms. Papaellina stated. Total expenditures for the Administration – Central Offices of the Deputy Ministry amounts to €11.5 million, of which €96,000 relates to development expenditures, she noted.
The Administration’s budget includes a grant of €5.3 million to the Cyprus Theater Organization and a grant of €3.6 million to the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation (ISO) amounting to €3.6 million, she clarified.
The Deputy Minister also stated that the total expenditures of the Department of Contemporary Culture amount to €21.1 million, of which €5.5 million relates to regular expenditures and €15.6 million relates to development expenditures.
Total expenditures for the Department of Antiquities amount to €23.6 million, of which €19.9 million relates to regular expenditures and €3.8 million to development expenditures, he said.
The total expenditures of the Cyprus Handicrafts Service amount to €2.1 million, all of which are regular expenditures. This includes salaries totaling €835,000 and operating and other expenses amounting to €1,266,000, he noted.
The budget for the State Archives for 2027 totals €3.3 million, of which €1.7 million is for regular expenditures and €1.6 million is for development expenditures, he added.
“Culture is a public good, a source of creativity and cohesion, but also an essential driver of development and openness for our country. That is why we must give it the place it deserves among the country’s development priorities,” he emphasized.
The Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and DIKO Member of Parliament, Chrysanthos Savvides, asked for details on the timeline for the completion of the Cyprus Archaeological Museum.
Responding to Mr. Savvides, Eftychia Zachariou from the Department of Antiquities stated that the revised completion date for the Museum is February 3, 2027, which amounts to an extension of 209 calendar days from the original date.
The Director General of the Deputy Ministry of Culture, George Papageorgiou, clarified that 18 months are being added to the timeline for the transfer of the antiquities to the new museum.
DISY MP Nikoletta Konstantinou stated that the Deputy Ministry’s budget cannot be reduced. “How can planning be carried out when development spending is being cut?” she asked.
In addition, she asked for an explanation of the cuts to the Culture Program, the timeline for the bill on the status of artists, as well as the situation at the Deputy Ministry of Culture following the administrative dysfunction that was identified.
DISY MP Michalis Kounounis welcomed the transfer of the Rialto Theater to the Municipality of Limassol. At the same time, he asked which projects are being completed and which are being postponed, while calling for greater transparency in cultural grants.
DISY MP Dimos Georgiadis praised the Nostos Program but noted that the amount allocated to the program is insufficient.
DISY MP Charalambos Petridis requested information regarding the Youth Card.
DISY MP Andreas Konstantinou asked whether artists would be brought into all-day schools to teach music and dance.
Responding to the DISY MPs, the Deputy Minister of Culture said that the criteria for grant programs are being reevaluated and revised based on the feedback we receive. We are making every effort to ensure that all necessary information regarding the grant programs is provided, she noted.
The Thymelis Plan will be made public in the coming days, followed by the Culture III Program, she added.
Responding to Dimos Georgiadis, Ms. Papaellina said that there are 88 applications for the Nostos Program. The program’s budget is “small,” amounting to €100,000, she said, adding that efforts will be made to increase it in the program’s next cycle.
He also noted that qualitative and quantitative indicators must be established for the Deputy Ministry’s programs.
The “Presidential Office Open to Citizens” program is part of an effort to link culture with education, he said.
Responding to a question from Nikoleta Konstantinou regarding the administrative malfunctions recently observed at the Deputy Ministry, Klea Hatzistefanou Papaellina said that “We believe in collective effort and in drawing on the experience and expertise of all those who serve culture.” “Each department has its own important role, and the administration creates the conditions so that everyone can effectively carry out their work,” she emphasized.
“Our top priority is ensuring that the Deputy Ministry operates smoothly, with clear responsibilities, effective coordination, and the strengthening of its organizational structures so that decisions are made in a timely manner and produce tangible results for the benefit of culture and society,” he emphasized, adding that “these relations are at a very good level at the moment.”
The Director General of the Deputy Ministry of Culture, George Papageorgiou, said that the variations observed in the size of the Deputy Ministry’s budget are due to the reclassification of certain expenditures by the Ministry of Finance. Many of the cultural organizations receiving grants are “small-to-medium-sized organizations that are struggling to make ends meet, which is why we try to support them in various ways,” he noted.
Mr. Papageorgiou also mentioned that the renovation process for the Cyprus Library building is beginning, noting that “we are returning to an earlier design plan for the General Secretariat.” He also noted that “we are drawing on expertise from the Greek Ministry of Culture regarding educational programs.” Regarding the bill on the status of artists, he said there will be a meeting with the relevant agencies next Tuesday.
AKEL MP Christos Christofides said that the Deputy Ministry’s share of the national budget had been reduced from 0.62% to 0.45% and wondered if the government had something against culture.
At the same time, Mr. Christofides expressed surprise at the reduction in funding for cultural programs. Funding for THOK and ISOK has been transferred under the supervision of the central administration of the Deputy Ministry, he said. He also spoke of an “attempt to over-centralize power” as well as a drastic reduction in the budget of the Department of Antiquities.
AKEL MP Ephraim Christou asked how the Deputy Ministry could function with that particular budget and limited resources. At the same time, he expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of representatives from the Deputy Ministry at the AKEL Teukros Anthia Awards.
Mr. Christou also asked to know the criteria for the honorary allowance for retired artists, while calling for the Youth Card to be extended to age 24 and for the Cypriot dialect to be incorporated into the education system. He also asked what the agreement regarding the Rialto Theater entails.
AKEL MP Giorgos Koukoumas asked about the status of efforts to enrich public buildings with works of art.
Responding to the AKEL MPs, the Deputy Minister of Culture said that the agreement regarding the Rialto is between the Ministry of Finance and the Limassol Municipality. She noted that the Ministry’s contribution to the Rialto will be phased out by 2029.
The Director of the Department of Contemporary Culture, Ioanna Hatzikosti, said there is a €300,000 reduction in grant programs, “which we are trying to manage by applying a flat-rate cut of small amounts across all programs”.
The main criterion for receiving a subsidy is being a recipient of the Minimum Guaranteed Income (MGI), he clarified, adding that there is an issue with rent for the housing of cultural organizations, particularly in Limassol. He also said that a category for Cypriot folk poetry has been created in the State Literary Awards.
The oversight of THOK and ISOK pertains to administrative matters and not to artistic matters, said the Director General of the Deputy Ministry of Culture, George Papageorgiou, addressing Christos Christofides.
The Director of the Department of Antiquities, George Georgiou, said that the Department’s budget has been significantly reduced, citing the Ministry of Finance’s “creative accounting.” “The continuous cutting of spending on antiquities will not come without a cost,” he emphasized.
ELAM MP Andreas Papacharalambous said that the percentage of the budget allocated to the Deputy Ministry should not satisfy the government, expressing his regret. He requested data on revenue from museum attendance in recent years.
The President and Member of Parliament for the Alma Movement, Odysseas Michaelides, asked for information on the THOK’s revenue and on funds allocated to the Rialto Theater in 2024 and 2025.
The Deputy Minister of Culture said she would respond in writing to the questions posed by Mr. Papacharalambous and Mr. Michaelides. The Deputy Ministry’s annual budget allocation for the Rialto is €120,000, she added.
Speaking to reporters after the conclusion of the Parliamentary Finance Committee meeting, Clea Hatzistefanou Papaellina called on the House to approve the Deputy Ministry of Culture’s budget for 2027, adding that this “will enable us to move forward with the policies and reforms needed in the cultural sector, focusing on its people, contemporary creativity, our cultural heritage, and access to culture for all.”
When asked to comment on the statement made by the Director of the Department of Antiquities during the Parliamentary session regarding the Department’s budget, the Deputy Minister of Culture stated that “this percentage appears to have changed, but in essence it has not changed.”
Responding to another question, she said that “the available resources, that is, those we already have at our disposal from the state budget, are being fully utilized for the upgrading and modernization of infrastructure as well as for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage”.
He also noted that “within the framework of the first intergovernmental agreement on cultural cooperation between Greece and Cyprus, we are drawing on expertise from the Greek Ministry of Culture regarding the allocation of funds from the European Union’s structural funds for infrastructure and cultural production.”
DISY MP Michalis Kounounis stated that “the artist’s status must be finalized with a specific timeline and funding,” adding that “the registry must be linked to meaningful professional recognition and social protection.”
DISY MP Dimos Georgiadis, expressed disappointment that “the cry of despair from the youth in the occupied areas has gone unheard, even though the problems they face are very specific; there are no resources, no funds to keep their activities alive.”
AKEL MP Christos Christofides stated that “in terms of budget percentage, we are the second-to-last country in Europe in terms of the money we allocate to culture.”
“At the same time, they cut funding for grant programs for artists, both for the Thymelis theater program and for the cultural creation program—at a time when we were all crying out that our artists are left hanging, traditional theaters are closing or severely limiting their performances, and the cultural sector is suffering,” he emphasized.
ELAM MP Andreas Papacharalambous stated that consideration should be given to including Cyprus’s cultural monuments on the UNESCO list, such as the Venetian walls of Nicosia and the Church of Saint Lazarus in Larnaca.
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Source: CNA
