The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine signs contracts for the production of films and TV series worth UAH 50.2 million

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine has signed 13 new contracts for the production of films and TV series worth UAH 50.2 million, most of them non-documentaries.

The Ministry of Culture reported this in response to an information request from the Dozorro Transparency International Ukraine project.

The previous head of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, Oleksandr Tkachenko, resigned, in particular after a scandal involving the allocation of millions of funds for cinema when the country was repelling a full-scale Russian invasion and needed weapons.

After Tkachenko's resignation, his deputy Rostyslav Karandieiev became acting minister.

The ministry cancelled the contract only for the series "Urban Village Inhulets", which was to receive UAH 33 million. However, amid the scandal, the contractor withdrew from the project.

The Ministry did not terminate contracts with other film producers. They have already been paid UAH 4.6 million for the launch of filming.

In addition, the Ministry has signed new contracts and has ordered the production of 35 TV series and films for a total of UAH 216 million.

"Museums, cultural centres, symbols, TV series - all this is important, but now there are other priorities. Find extra-budgetary funds," said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his evening address to the nation a month ago, where he announced the resignation of Oleksandr Tkachenko.

Also, in late July, the President vetoed a bill to allocate an additional UAH 573.9 million to complete the construction of the Holodomor Museum.