Riga, Jan 14 (LETA) - The government is ready to participate in the management of Austrumlatvijas Koncertzale or Gors concert hall in Rezekne if necessary, but the Rezekne municipality should not be freed from responsibility, Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) said in an interview to the Latvian Television.

The prime minister reminded that the government had already given a mandate to the Culture Ministry at the end of last year to assess and address the situation regarding the management of Gors. In her opinion, the sudden change of management did not indicate that everything was in the best order with the management of the concert hall.

Silina believes that taking the institution into state ownership would be the easiest way forward, but at the same time it is necessary to assess what the municipality has done to develop the concert hall and whether its management activities have been of full value and aimed at safeguarding and promoting national values.

Silina predicts that the Culture Ministry and the government will propose different scenarios for the future management of Gors, first leaving it to the municipality to agree on one of them voluntarily. "We are ready, but we also want the municipality to take responsibility, so that it is not the case that the municipality simply abdicates responsibility and then the state deals with all the outstanding problems of the municipality. We have also discussed this and there will be action," the prime minister promised.

As reported, the Culture Ministry has until the end of January to prepare an informative report on the results of negotiations with the municipality of Rezekne and possible solutions Gors, Culture Minister Agnese Lace (Progressives) told LETA in December.

"This is also the moment when we are assessing how to strengthen the state's involvement in the concert hall's management model," Lace said. She underlined that the Gors concert hall in Rezekne plays an important role in building Latvia's cultural resilience and internal security.

"The principles of good governance are very important and interfering in content in out of question. It is about ensuring that the management solutions are sustainable and ensuring accessibility of culture for residents," Lace said.

She pointed out that at the Culture Ministry will offer the municipality of Rezekne several scenarios for possible cooperation, and then see how the local authority responds to the proposal.

"It could be an assumption of shared responsibility, joint participation in a capital company, or other scenarios," said Lace, noting that Culture Ministry, as well as the government coalition, are ready to continue this discussion with Rezekne.

It was also reported that Rezekne City Council earlier said that it was considering changes to Latgale embassy Gors management system. The local government emphasizes that it provides Gors a subsidy from the Rezekne budget every year, expecting in return high quality and the concert hall's work aimed at increasing its revenues so that the subsidy could be reduced. A recent audit of the concert hall's functions, however, identified several problems in its operations.

In light of audit results and recommendations, the municipality, in cooperation with Rezekne Culture and Tourism Center, has started to work on possible changes "that would ensure sustainability of the institution and reduce its dependence on the municipality's subsidy".

One of the main tasks is to identify a management system that will allow Gors to become more efficient, transparent, and significantly increase revenues from its operations.