Mr Medinsky spoke about the Ministry's performance last year and took questions from journalists.
One of the Ministry’s key objectives was to raise salaries for people working in the cultural sphere, said the Minister. Measures have already been taken toward this end, with the average salaries being raised by 50% compared with last year.
Over the past year, the Ministry developed 23 draft laws, reported the Minister. Some of them are under consideration at the State Duma, and others have already been adopted. Within a month, the Government will consider a draft law introducing contractual employment system in theatres, under which actors will be required to pass an evaluation. If an actor fails the test, the Ministry will work with employment agencies to help him find a new job.
Last year, the Ministry spent over 250 million roubles on replenishing museum collections, which is 3.5 times the annual spending rate in previous years, Mr Medinsky said. “We did not secure additional funding for this, we managed to save this money at the auctions," stressed the Minister.
Speaking of the structural changes in the Ministry, Mr Medinsky said that a special division will be created within the Department of Cultural Heritage that will work on the development of innovative museums and new exhibitions.
The Minister also announced the creation of an online version of the Museum of New Western Art. "Yesterday I signed a directive, and this year we will definitely open an online version of the Museum of Western Art," Mr Medinsky said. Earlier, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Minister of Culture and the Union of Russian Museums to consider, by June 3, the expediency of recreating the Museum of New Western Art in Moscow. The idea was first proposed by Director of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts Irina Antonova.
