The Ministry of Culture told whether they will resume issuing letters of support for artists to travel abroad
5 March 15:59
The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communication has announced its readiness to resume issuing letters of assistance for cultural figures to travel abroad.
This was stated by Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communication Halyna Hryhorenko at a meeting of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
According to the official, the ministry finalized the relevant resolution “at the request of all interested bodies.” It will contain a number of changes, which will specify clear criteria for artists to travel abroad.
“The letter of support will be signed by the Minister or his/her deputy. It will be necessary to submit documents (to receive the letter – ed.) through several central executive authorities and regional military administrations. In this way, more bodies will process the request than before,” noted Hryhorenko.
She also added that only cultural heritage workers will be able to submit a request for a letter directly to the Ministry of Culture. It is important for legal entities to have a criticality status.
Instead, individual entrepreneurs will be able to apply for the letter only if they have been officially engaged in creative activity for more than three years.
According to Andriy Nadzhos, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Culture, the agency will be ready to resume accepting requests the very next day after the new resolution is adopted, on March 6.
What happened?
on February 27 , the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communication (MCSC) announced that it was suspending the issuance of letters to facilitate the travel of artists and media professionals with military service abroad as of March 3.
The same day, the agency explained that this decision was temporary. It will remain in effect until the formal procedure is clarified, which would allow “to avoid further abuse of the goals of cultural diplomacy.”
How many letters of support has the Ministry of Culture issued?
In 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communication sent 3,724 letters of assistance for artists and media professionals to travel, and in 2024 – 2,700, Interfax reports .
In October 2024, Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytskyi said that about 20% of those who left with the permission of the Ministry of Culture did not return to Ukraine, LB reports .
What scandals have been associated with traveling abroad with letters of assistance from the ICSC?
In 2023, an interview with stand-up comedian Andriy Shchegel resonated online, in which the artist said that he had left Ukraine with a temporary permit from the Ministry of Culture but remained abroad. At the time, he claimed that he had received three summonses in Ukraine, but he was not afraid of the military commissars.
The ministry noted that it facilitates the travel abroad of artists, painters, performers, journalists, etc., but because of cases like Shchegel’s, “the situation for those who really defend Ukraine on the cultural front is getting more complicated.”
The ministry condemned the comedian’s actions and announced increased responsibility for violating the rules for the departure and return to Ukraine of men of military age.
Subsequently, the then-Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko said that in order to travel abroad, cultural figures would be required to confirm the existence of military registration in the organization and contracts, and to submit a report upon returning to Ukraine.
