Minister of Culture: 2024, the Year of Investments in Heritage Buildings and Cultural Institutions

Culture is entering the realm of investments. The Minister of Culture, Raluca Turcan, announced that in 2024, there will be investments in heritage buildings and cultural institutions, citing examples such as the Opera and Theater in Cluj, the National Museum of Romania, the Theater and Library in Craiova, the Brătianu Estates, and Villa Florica. According to the minister: "From the perspective of the Romanian state's capacity to capitalize on the built heritage, I must admit that we have been deficient, and there are spectacular buildings emblematic of our national identity that are in an advanced state of degradation. At the Ministry of Culture, I found extremely limited resources, but at the same time, a lack of attention to this huge heritage that we have as a country. And I confess that from the first day of my mandate, I gathered all the teams, put in every possible effort so that investment procedures, resources that we could have at our disposal, could be directed towards the restoration of the built heritage as much as possible. (...) And I am pleased that next year will be a year in which we will launch some works and leave documentation prepared for investments in cultural institutions as well as heritage buildings." She mentioned that funds are available for some of these investments: "And I refer to the Opera and Theater in Cluj, the National Museum of Romanian History, the Theater in Craiova, the Library in Craiova, the Brătianu Estates, Villa Florica are investments that will begin next year, either by preparing documentation (...) some of them may even begin by us because the funding source exists. There is money to carry out some of these investments that I mentioned." Turcan promised that investments will also be made in other cultural objectives, using funds from the National Heritage Institute: "I confess that even on another funding axis we have through the National Heritage Institute, we will find small reserves of money so that we can invest in smaller works on cultural objectives, some of them even here in Sibiu, and I will announce them when I complete the procedures. I want you to know that I have succeeded, and it's something I'm proud of, regarding historical heritage (...) to already start intervention works on the Peleş and Pelişor castles, which were in a painful state of degradation for Romania in terms of the value of the heritage we have there, and we will continue to ensure the safety of these two objectives."

Raluca Turcan made the statements in Sibiu during the inclusion of a cafe in the historic center of the municipality in the Cultural Trail - Historic Cafes Route.