Romania’s Brasov sets EUR 20 mln budget for the European Capital of Culture project

The Local Council of Brasov, a city located in central Romania some 170 km north of Bucharest, recently approved a draft decision on the financial support for the city’s candidacy for the European Capital of Culture 2021 title. The budget voted by the council, of over EUR 20 million, will be spent by the municipality if the city qualifies to host this event, according to deputy mayor Adina Durbaca, reports local Agerpres. The money will come from the municipality’s own funds, from NGOs, the Metropolitan Agency, the County Council, and from companies that have expressed their support for this project. According to Dragos David, director of the Metropolitan Agency Brasov, this is an operating budget that targets both the operation part and the implementation of evaluation studies, and the organization of events. The city will submit its candidacy on October 10. A total of 13 Romanian cities have entered the race for the European Capital of Culture 2021 title, including Bucharest, Craiova, Timisoara, Arad, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, and Suceava. The European Capital of Culture initiative was developed in 1985. The 2015 European Capitals of Culture are Mons in Belgium and Plzen in the Czech Republic. Romania’s Sibiu was the European Capital of Culture in 2007. Romania’s Arad to spend over EUR 50 mln on becoming the European Capital of Culture. Romania’s Cluj-Napoca pays EUR 15 mln to become European Cultural Capital. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com