The Verkhovna Rada refused further consideration of amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Touring Activities in Ukraine” (No. 8757) after the wave of protests by performers and producers, public hearings and roundtables against these changes. The innovation could have put Ukrainian musicians, promoters, performers, and independent businesses in the situation of harsh administrative control and financial obligation, and ticket prices would have risen by half. The resolution on withdrawing the draft law was supported by 278 MPs.
As a reminder, after draft law No.8757 was accepted in the first reading, it caused a wave of protests in artistic environment. Ukrainian artists and producers addressed the government with a request to drop the draft law because it endangered the very possibility of touring activities in Ukraine and completely neglected consumers’ interests. The experts said the price of tickets would rise 25 to 50 percent in case the draft law had been passed. It was planned to exact following amounts of money for official registration and issuing of the license that would allow to carry out a touring activity: one percent of the full house value of the event for tours that would involve bands or individual performers in theatrical, academic, music, and folklore music art genres; three percent of the full house value of the event for tours that would involve variety or circus groups, or individual performers; five percent of the full house value of the event for tours that would include show programs of all kinds, and also concerts at entertainment establishments involving bands or individual performers.
It was provided that event organizers should pay for the registration and issuing of the license to conduct touring activity in Ukraine (except for charitable tours).
“The parliament’s decision is a joint victory of all those who joined in the open fight against the government’s plans to carry out a ‘cultural counter-revolution,’ and impose a new corrupt tax for performers and organizers of touring events,” said Natalia Korolevska, MP.
According to her, except for the important corruption component, the draft law also gave government a power to influence election campaigns. “This draft law offered an opportunity to put pressure on artists so they should take the ‘right’ stand. In order to achieve this, it was planned to create mechanisms to hinder the tours of the artists who support the opposition, or punish artists for participating in a pre-election rally,” Korolevska’s press service quotes her as saying.
Dmytro PRYKORDONNY, head of the Coalition of Performers and Producers of Ukraine:
“This draft law was devised to harm people’s interests. It is a good thing that it is called off now. You should agree that it would be pointless to obtain a license for each separate concert or performance (the officials of the Ministry of Culture could allow or deny any program, concert, or show). The same applies to fiscal functions: it was planned to exact fines (20 percent from the full house value of the event, and it would not matter if the event was sold out or not). This is absolutely absurd! You cannot pay a tax for a product that is not yet sold. In my opinion, three percent from the value of sold tickets should be paid if a performer is not the resident of Ukraine. A foreigner comes to our country, pays three percent tax, and this money is used to support domestic culture. It is a reasonable tax, and we all support it. Also, a mechanism of the organization of touring activity should be developed. I think that a representative group including producers, tour organizers, performers, and representatives of the Ministry of Culture, should be created in order to make amendments to this law. And also a foundation should be created, which will also include representatives of the public, and its money will be spent to support theaters, ethnic bands, and young artists and musicians. It is easy to do, some amendments to the tax code should be made, and a special fund should be created. The Ministry of Culture and the representatives of public will distribute the money. We have a Ukrainian Promoters Association, Coalition of Performers and Producers of Ukraine, and the representatives of these organizations should be involved in the development of the new Law ‘On Touring Activity.’”
Olha STELMASHEVSKA, director of Del Arte PR Company:
“When the Law ‘On Touring Activity’ was adopted by the parliament in its first reading, it caused an outcry. And in my opinion, the first step to success was that promoters who did not know each other before, or thought of each other as rivals, now united. The fact that promoters from all over Ukraine fought as one (there are not very many of them, two or three for every city), started raising the alarm, addressed the press and television, took active part in roundtables initiated by the Ministry of Culture, the Verkhovna Rada committee sittings, and were supported by producers, performers, tour organizers, and the public – all of this resulted in the complete withdrawal of the draft! It should be noted that The Day was one of the first to inform the society about this problem. As a result, the law that should never be accepted in any civilized country was declined. The paragraphs of this draft law were unprofessional and ignorant, and contradicted the Constitution of Ukraine, and also all norms of touring business management. This draft law revealed all the problems of our show business. For examples, under the conditions of financial crisis promoters, producers, and artists in many countries, European ones in particular, create professional unions and associations. They do not just communicate intensively, but agree upon common actions and take care of their audience. It is hard for people these days to find money to arrange a family visit to a football or boxing event, a concert or performance once a month, so the tour organizers do not hold expensive tours and sporting events on a daily basis. This is the simplest example of how the show market should be organized. Everyone benefits from it: audiences visit certain events, and they know they should save money in advance to see a certain performer, singer, musician, or athlete; so promoters and performers have a secure source of income. I hope that soon Ukrainian promoters will unite, create an association, and join the efforts to solve their problems the way their foreign colleagues in Germany and Great Britain do. They manage to arrange tours not only in large cities, but in smaller towns as well. I want to emphasize that the very idea of foreign performers contributing to the national artists support fund is a good one, and nobody rejects it. I hope that while preparing the next draft law, the Ministry of Culture will involve professionals that work in show business and arrange tours, and a correct and civilized law is going to be written. The need for a Law on Sponsorship emerged a long time ago, and the audience, artists, and promoters will benefit from it.”
