“At the last moment, when the third expedition of our research ship was supposed to leave for Antarctica – in November, we received a letter that the money needed for the ship to return was redirected to the grain producers. Which means that the ship cannot return - it will stay there, which is a precedent - in the 21st century, Bulgarian scientists and sailors are stranded on the other side of the world“, said Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, head of the Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions in the program “Face to Face” on bTV.
He specified that the purpose of the polar expedition is for the ship to bring provisions and support the Bulgarian Antarctic station “St. Kliment Ohridski“.
The ship is loaded with food, equipment and scientific materials that will be used by Bulgarian researchers next season.
“I also spoke with Prime Minister Glavchev – who personally called me. We will not leave our polar explorers in distress, things have moved forward“, said Prof. Pimpirev.
“We have a polar base, now we also have a ship – many countries that are much richer than us have joined us – The United Arab Emirates can pay for itself and go with any country to Antarctica, but they are coming with us. Their first expedition is exactly the one that may not return and is transporting their scientists,“ he added.
It turns out that there are also problems with money in another department - culture.
“The budget for culture has been increased by nearly 100 million - this includes the budgets of BNRT, BNR, and municipalities. And the budget of the Ministry of Culture has been reduced by nearly 100 million. In fact, this is the money for the maintenance of the ministry itself, for the work of archaeologists, researchers, there are museums, galleries, “ said Hristo Mutafchiev, chairman of the Union of Artists.
At the same time, according to him, the contribution of the cultural sector to last year's budget has increased by almost 6 million, compared to 2023.
“We return 6 million to the treasury, of which 2.5 million are only performing arts, and now they are punishing us by reducing our budget by nearly 100 million. I am sure that this budget will not pass, I have already spoken to people from several parties who categorically opposed the budget for culture for next year being reduced“, he specified.
Another problem remains the unpaid bills until the end of this year.
“There are about several hundred freelance colleagues who have not received their fees for nearly 2 months because the Ministry of Culture has not done its job of sitting down to talk to the Ministry of Finance and come to an agreement on these issues“, said Hristo Mutafchiev.
“Theatrical spaces cannot go bankrupt in 2025 – this is already cynicism“, he is categorical.