The Ministry of Finance did not approve the Dovzhenko Center for an additional 5 million UAH for 2025 and did not explain the reasons for the refusal. The Center warns that due to a lack of state funding, they may stop working by the end of 2025, and the draft budget for 2026 also does not include the full amount needed for the basic functions of the archive — 12.7 million UAH. This means that the institution’s activities for November and December of this year are actually not provided for with anything.
The film fund says that its own revenues allow it to cover salaries only partially, so there is a risk of a repeat of the beginning of 2025, when employees were transferred to a shortened work week. The team emphasizes: back in June, it submitted all financial calculations to the State Film and Culture Commission and the Ministry of Culture for the correction of support, they were approved without any comments, but the final decision has not been made.
On December 8, Minister of Culture Tetyana Berezhna held an urgent meeting with the head of the State Film and Culture Commission Andriy Osipov and promised to find a solution within a week. The Dovzhenko Center warns that the delay creates additional risks for the preservation of the collection, the work of the team, and the fulfillment of contracts with state structures – in particular, regarding the transfer of films, the preparation of materials for screenings, and cooperation with educational projects. They emphasize that it is impossible to keep the national film heritage “on an enthusiastic footing” without state support.
The Dovzhenko Center is a state film fund and a member of FIAF, and since 1996 has been engaged in the preservation, research, restoration, and popularization of Ukrainian cinema. After the conflict surrounding the restructuring announced in 2022, which is currently suspended, the institution is again facing a crisis – this time a financial one, which may call into question the continuity of the archive’s work.
