Press release - AROC welcomes the initiative of the Romanian Government to find ways to support the cultural sector

The Romanian Association of Promoters of Concerts and Cultural Events (AROC), which includes representatives of the largest music and cultural events in the country, welcomes the initiative of the Romanian Government to find ways to support the cultural sector and the public appearance of the draft scheme state aid dedicated to this field.

As they declared during the presentation of the project the Deputy Prime Minister - Mrs. Raluca Turcan, the Minister of Culture - Mr. Bogdan Gheorghiu, together with the General Mayor of the capital, Mr. Nicusor Dan, this is a first step taken by the authorities towards helping the cultural sector in the current situation, with the activity of most companies and workers in this field almost completely stopped. The process by which this state aid scheme was set up marks a premiere, because the parties involved in the cultural sector had the opportunity to collaborate directly with representatives of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Finance, the Competition Council - within the working group initiated by the Deputy Prime - Mrs. Minister Raluca Turcan and by the Minister of Culture - Mr. Bogdan Gheorghiu - and to be consulted in the composition of the project. In addition to AROC, the Ministry of Culture has collaborated with other organizations that manage the interests of representative groups in the cultural field. In this way, the entrepreneurial initiative in this field was recognized as an important vector in the cultural development of Romania and the needs of entrepreneurs in this sector found support from the authorities. For AROC, this state aid scheme represents the most important moment of the partnership between the organizers of cultural events and the Romanian Government.

The value of the state aid scheme is 100 million Euros. This means that 100 million Euros will be invested in culture in the next period. It is an unprecedented moment, the importance of which deserves - in the spirit of the field we represent - applauded. In case of events, the state aid scheme is designed to help all participants in the realization of the cultural act. The organizers are forced by this scheme to restart the events - when this will be possible. The money can be used exclusively to pay for the activities of restarting cultural events and in this way, all companies and workers in the events industry in Romania will benefit from this help.

In order to benefit from the state aid scheme, all eligible companies - as they are defined in the project: non-governmental organizations and companies that have carried out activities in one of the cultural fields represented by performing arts, visual arts, heritage, books, audio-visual, cultural education - will have to register in the Cultural Sector Register, at www.culturadata.ro/registrul-sectorului-cultural. The project will be in public debate in the next period, so AROC intends to take advantage of this additional consultation period to collaborate with the Ministry of Culture to find solutions to cover the concerns of all our members and organizers of cultural events. AROC was in consultation with the Ministry of Culture in elaborating the state aid scheme as a representative of the organizers of cultural events. But we want, if this will be possible, to be a representative of the entire cultural events market in Romania. Therefore, we would like to inform you that in the coming days, AROC's activity will focus on elaborating as detailed as possible the additions to the state aid scheme proposed by the Ministry of Culture and in this way, we invite other cultural operators to write their suggestions at info@aroc.ro.

We are available to offer  our point of view to the Ministry of Culture on what it is necessary for this sector, in all its complexity, to be able to survive this period.

AROC members

ARTmania - ARTmania Festival Sibiu/Blaj aLive, Asociatia Fapte - Jazz in the Park, Asociatia Mozaic - Mozaic Jazz Festival, Asociatia Festivalul de Film Transilvania - TIFF, BestMusic Live/METALHEAD, Comparty Events - diMANSIONS Hit Music Festival, Electric Castle, Emagic Live - Awake Festival, Global Records, Movement Team - Sports Festival, NEVERSEA, Centrul Cultural Plai - Plai Festival/JazzTM, SNRS - Sunwaves Festival, Sprint Media, Sublime Romania, Summer Well, The Institute, The Mission/Fall in Love Festival, UNTOLD, VRTW, Wine and Street Food Festival, Why Not Us - Street Food Festival, Wise Factor - The Fresh.