Film union calls for cultural prizes to be indexed

The Estonian Film Union has called for state cultural prizes to be indexed retroactively, saying their value has remained at the level of 35 years ago, ERR reported.

In August, Culture Minister Heidy Purga sent a draft regulation for approval that would keep the prizes at their current levels: 64,000 euros for a lifetime prize recognising long-term outstanding creative work and 9,600 euros for an annual prize for outstanding work completed the previous year.

Several professional associations have criticised the plan. The Estonian Film Union also withheld its approval of the section concerning prize amounts and proposed that the prizes be indexed retroactively as a matter of fairness.

Film Union chief executive Marika Streimann said the first prizes were awarded in 1991 and their amounts had effectively not changed since then. The lifetime prize was originally one million kroons, which became 64,000 euros when Estonia adopted the euro. The annual state prize was 150,000 kroons and was rounded to 9,600 euros after the currency change.

“The Estonian state is therefore paying cultural prize laureates essentially the same nominal amount today as it did 35 years ago, even though the real value and purchasing power of that money have declined significantly,” Streimann said.

At the same time, the minister’s salary, which is set under the law governing the salaries of higher state officials, is adjusted annually through indexation. Streimann said the minister’s monthly salary had risen by roughly 200 to 400 euros in recent years. Even during the current temporary restriction, the increase had been about 200 euros, or 2.7 to 2.9 percent a year.

She also noted that the public service uses performance-based and variable pay. Data from the Ministry of Finance shows that chancellors’ variable pay can reach several thousand euros a year.

“We do not question the principles of indexing public service salaries or paying performance-based and additional compensation. On the contrary, we believe it is right for the state to adjust its employees’ pay in line with changes in the economic environment,” Streimann said. “The same principle should also apply to the state’s highest cultural honours.”

The Film Union said a cultural prize was the Estonian state’s highest recognition for a person’s lifetime work or an outstanding cultural achievement of the year. It therefore said the prize amount should reflect the recognition’s value today, rather than purchasing power from 35 years ago.

The union proposed indexing the state cultural prizes retroactively from 1991 at 2.7 percent a year, using the indexation principle applied to the salaries of higher state officials as a model. Indexation should then be applied annually, it said.

Streimann said the cultural sector had repeatedly criticised the freezing of prize amounts. The Ministry of Culture and successive culture ministers had expressed willingness over the years to consider increasing the prizes, but this had not happened, citing state budget constraints.

The Film Union said it was unjustified that the state budget had not found an opportunity over 35 years to adjust the prizes for recognising eight outstanding cultural figures, while indexation had become standard in the remuneration of state leaders and public servants.