“The Ministry of Culture confirmed that the decree on the 10 percent increase of the mandatory contribution has indeed been drafted, and they announced that it will be adopted by the government by the end of the month. The RTV contribution, which has remained unchanged since 2012, will thus amount to 14.025 euros per month per household from the beginning of next year, instead of the 12.75 euros we pay at present, according to our calculations.” This is what the newspaper Delo reported on Tuesday.
The journalists who started a long-lasting strike for a change of government under the previous government agreed with the new administration of the national media outlet, Radio-Television Slovenia (RTVS) – which has since resigned – before the holidays that their government would provide them with more money by increasing the contribution. When the change of power took place, the new government carried out a large-scale purge, and the previous strikers took power at RTV Slovenia.
The legal basis for the early change of management and editors at RTVS was prepared by Asta Vrečko, Minister of Culture and President of the Left party (Levica). She is now also proposing to raise additional money from the people.
The new RTV Slovenia Programme Council, which the ruling party set up with a special appeal to clean up the system, has also called for more money from the government, based on an increased contribution.
As we have already reported, last year, the government sent RTV Slovenia an extra five million euros for minority programmes, which was not part of the state budget plans, after a conversation between the then-President of the Management Board, Zvezdan Martić, who later resigned, and Prime Minister Robert Golob, and this year, they sent them another ten million, again outside the state budget plans. This money was intended to cover the gap and pay salaries, which is where most of the money goes at RTV Slovenia. The law only allowed for the quick additional transfers to RTVS for minorities. The money was, therefore, formally transferred for this purpose. However, minorities did not actually get additional programmes or content as a result.
The law stipulates that the government can increase the RTV contribution by up to one-tenth, but this applies for the following year if it decides to do so by September. A one-tenth increase means around 10 million euros more per year. The government therefore has ten more days to decide on this. However, even a twofold supplement of ten million each, for minorities and with a higher contribution, will probably still not be enough. Further “measures” for a depoliticised state institution can be expected.
Due to resignations, as new managers cannot be found overnight through tenders, the broadcaster is currently run by interim acting managers, who are appointed by the Council of Radio-Television Slovenia. For example, Natalija Gorščak is the acting President of the Management Board.
