The Verkhovna Radaʼs (the Ukrainian Parliamentʼs) Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy did not support Oleksandr Tkachenkoʼs resignation from the post of Minister of Culture. Now this issue will be considered in the session hall of the parliament.
In an evening address on July 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he asked the Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to consider replacing the Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko.
Later, Tkachenko informed that he had written a resignation letter. He says he did it "because of a wave of misunderstanding about the importance of culture in wartime." He was surprised by the presidentʼs statement.
"Both private and budget funds during the war for culture are no less important than for drones, because culture is the shield of our identity and our borders. And this is my fundamental position against others," he added.
- From Zelenskyʼs words about museums and TV series, it can be concluded that the president reacted to public outrage over the idea of changing the coat of arms of the USSR to the coat of arms of Ukraine on the shield of the Motherland and the information that the state will allocate UAH 33.6 million for the series under the working title "Smt Inhulets".
- On July 20, in a commentary for "Radio Svoboda", Tkachenko supported the allocation of millions from the state budget for movies and series, such as "Nezabudka Sanatorium" and "Smt Inhulets". According to him, the state can spend about UAH 400 million on cinema.