Press release 24 March 2016

On the instruction of the MK “On leasing and the way of administration of cultural monuments for the purpose of revitalization”

Instruction of the Minister of Culture No. 5110, dated 13.10.2015 “On the leasing and administration of cultural monuments for the purpose of revitalization” has nothing to do with concessions, just as it is not about privatization and sale of cultural monuments.

There are only misinterpretations and distortions that stem from not reading the content of this act properly. These are baseless accusations that are not based on the truth about cultural heritage. There is no provision in violation of the legal and sub-legal framework in force.

The directive of the Minister of Culture is a legal obligation arising from the implementation of the Law on Cultural Heritage, amended and drafted within the entire existing legal framework. After a period of 2 years, analyzing the situation, diagnosing the emergency, examining the costs, financial possibilities, the Ministry of Culture has drawn up the instruction, following a clear policy of promoting TK and not to respond to individual requests, not only for today, but also for the future.

We remind the public that the ministers before this government issued several such instructions. The results are four instructions from four leading ministers, Mr. Pango, Mr. Turku, Mr. Xhaferraj, Mr. Zhiti, which we find incomplete, not provided with additional special guarantees for Cultural Heritage. These were mostly instructions made following the requests of private entities for use and not for the protection of national wealth.

From 2009 until October 2015, administration models were drawn up for the utilization of cultural monuments for the purpose of revitalization. The results?

The preliminary instructions created space for violations of the law.

They did not provide special protection for monuments.

Incomplete management models resulted.

The example of Lezha Castle shows this best, one of the first contracts canceled by the Ministry of Culture.

We inherited a situation where they were left in ruins, destroyed for 25 years. We closed an inventory that had not been done for 3 decades; 132 monuments were missing since 1982. These data show that public finances are not enough and will not be enough in the years to come, even if the budget is doubled to maintain these monuments as they deserve.

Public-private partnership is today one of the forms in which the administration of cultural assets is done, protecting and guaranteeing the public interest of cultural assets in the first place and promoting and revaluing heritage treasures in second time.

Instruction of the Minister of Culture No. 5110, dated 13.10.2015 “On the leasing and administration of cultural monuments for the purpose of revitalization” is more complete, more careful and protective of monuments by adding other guarantees in making decisions. Although the law recognizes the discretion of the responsible Minister to implement a revitalization project, today’s MK considers this process of very special importance and therefore has not only drawn up a very detailed guide, but also creates a new mechanism, such as The Special Commission for the Management of Cultural Assets, which is not at all a legal obligation, but the will of today’s Minister is also a proof of responsibility, with which we handle this issue.

In implementation of the Albanian legislation in force, the Ministry of Culture has relied on the most successful models of revitalization and use of cultural monuments in Europe.

This topic has also been defined as a central topic and common interest for UNESCO in the last meeting of the Ministers of Culture of all South-Eastern European countries and will be addressed in the following year in the presidency of Albania and in cooperation with UNESCO.

Last year MK studied many of the exciting models in the region and Europe, where it is worth mentioning, “Arena Verona Foundation (Arena di Verona)”.

Arena Verona is a Roman amphitheater, still in use today, and is internationally known for the large-scale opera performances given there. This is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind. Nowadays, for security reasons, the maximum participation is 15,000 people.

The instruction of the Ministry of Culture, at the core of which lies the idea of public-private partnership, comes after a detailed analysis of the state of where we had found this sector. The institution has had difficulties in the legal framework for concretizing these collaborations, therefore MK is working on drafting a new legal framework for Cultural Heritage. The institutional goal is to carry out non-profit cultural activities in the interest of the public, taking into account the requests from non-profit organizations and various operators, for cooperation in the field of cultural heritage with the aim of promoting and revaluing cultural heritage.