NIKITINSKY THEATER OF VORONEZH IS ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY

On June 23, the artistic director of the Nikitinsky Theater in Voronezh, Boris Alekseev, held a press conference, at which he announced the impending bankruptcy of a cultural institution. It turned out that one of the flagships of the independent theatrical art in Russia, which has several nominations for the Golden Mask award, may become another victim of the pandemic and indifference on the part of business and officials.

The lack of financial support from the state, which was an indicator of relative creative freedom, led to the fact that the institution accumulated debts to the landlord in the amount of 657 thousand rubles. 403 thousand are debt for 2020, and 254 thousand more are current debt to the Palace of Culture of railway workers, in the premises of which the performances are held.

Nikitinsky Theater is one of the few cultural institutions that managed to survive last year. In 2021, it should have celebrated its fifth anniversary.

In 2016, it was created by the spouses Boris and Irina Alekseevs, inviting eminent directors and delighting the audience with original productions. Last year, the management of the theater managed to win several grants, having received about 1 million rubles of financial allocations spent on salaries for the employees.

The general sponsor previously refused to financially support the ‘Center’ theater festival. The head of the theater noted that in April last year, he had to turn to the regional government for help for the first time. The Nikitinsky Theater managed to get a positive resolution on the allocation of financial assistance from the governor Alexander Gusev, but it took almost 8 months.

The order of the head of the region came out in December last year - by March 2021, the corresponding information appeared in the regional budget.

Imagine the surprise of the theater management, which was eventually informed that the money would be allocated no earlier than in September and only in the form of a grant, but not financial security for salary payments to artists and technical service workers.

According to Alekseev, the final decision on the fate of the theater will take place on July 5, when the troupe returns from the festival of street theaters in Arkhangelsk, where the actors went on tour. In the absence of a legal mechanism allowing the state to subsidize private theaters, the latter will go bankrupt, summed up Alekseev.

He appealed to the theater community and all those interested in the fate of the theater, including regional officials, to assist in finding ways to save the theater from impending fines from supervisory authorities and bankruptcy.