Sarajevo National Theatre also in financial trouble: Collaborators cancelling contracts, suppliers demanding money, Mustafić silent

(Patria) - The National Theatre of Sarajevo has also been in a difficult and unenviable financial situation in recent months.

Although the National Theatre of Sarajevo and its director Dino Mustafić are not commenting, some collaborators engaged on a work contract basis have not received their payments for months, which has led them to terminate their cooperation with the National Theatre of Sarajevo. They have also written about this on social media, but director Mustafić has no opinion on the matter.

According to Patria's information, numerous suppliers are also at the end of their patience and are demanding that director Mustafić settle the invoices.

The National Theatre of Sarajevo engages collaborators on a work contract basis as not everyone can be employed by the institution, but they wait for their earned money for months. For example, a fee for an actor performing in a play is 150 KM, but there is no money for that in the Sarajevo Canton budget.

On the other hand, the responsibility of the Sarajevo Canton Minister of Finance, Afan Kalamujić, is also being questioned, as all payment orders are with him. We have received confirmation from several ministries that other ministers also have to make multiple urgent requests for certain obligations to be paid, starting from trivial amounts of a few marks for payment slips to projects that the Canton is implementing in cooperation with international partners.

Although his term as director expired at the end of August, Mustafić remains in office until a new one is elected. And regardless of his social engagement and frequent criticism of everything and anything, Mustafić clearly does not want to confront the Sarajevo Canton Government, so he remains silent about the institution's problems.

In addition to financial problems, the building of the National Theatre of Sarajevo has long been ready for reconstruction and restoration. This summer, the facade collapsed, which led to the Federal Inspectorate being called to the site.

The building of the National Theatre was declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2008, and it is shameful that during the Sarajevo Film Festival it becomes a center of glamour, and after the spotlights are turned off, it remains a dilapidated building left to the ravages of time due to the irresponsibility of those in charge.

Although the National Theatre of Sarajevo is a co-signatory to the Agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Sarajevo Canton and the City Administration of Sarajevo on co-financing the reconstruction and restoration of the building's facade and carpentry, it is clear that there is neither the will nor the funds to renovate this building. This shows the attitude of the current Sarajevo Canton Government towards the history and culture of Sarajevo.