Lithuanian airline collapse hits culture-fest
(VILNIUS) - The collapse of Lithuania's flagship airline FlyLAL has dented Vilnius' status as this year's European Capital of Culture, organisers in the Baltic state said on Wednesday.
"We had a sponsorship contract with FlyLAL worth 4.5 million litas (1.3 million euros, 1.7 million dollars)," Albertas Barauskas, spokesman of the year-long festival, told AFP.
FlyLAL, which declared bankruptcy last week, was meant to ferry participants to and from Vilnius, providing free tickets, and advertise events on its planes.
"This is obviously going to have an impact," Barauskas said, adding that organisers were seeking new sponsors but that no formal talks had begun.
The demise of the struggling FlyLAL after a sale to Swiss investors fell through has left festival organisers scrambling to protect showcase events.
On Tuesday, the daily Lietuvos Zinios reported plans to ask the military to fetch a collection of paintings by the Lithuanian artist Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1875-1911), currently on display in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
FlyLAL had been meant to fly back the paintings, which will be the core of a high-profile exhibition starting in June.
The European Union, which Lithuania joined in 2004 a decade after breaking free from the crumbling Soviet bloc, designates cities as capitals of culture for a year to offer them a showcase. Vilnius shares the 2009 title with the Austrian city Linz.
Organisers hope the extravaganza will draw three million visitors to Vilnius, providing a crucial revenue boost for this country of 3.4 million people amid an economic crisis.
Lithuania is bracing for a recession after the abrupt end of a decade-long boom, and FlyLAL's collapse is just the latest problem for festival organisers.
Late last year, lawmakers slashed the budget for festival events from 40 to 25 million litas as part of wider state belt-tightening.
"Sixteen events have already been cancelled," said Barauskas, singling out street theatre and electronic music festivals, as well as a series of debates on Europe.
Organisers are pleading with the government and Vilnius' city authorities to come up with 12 million litas, saying they desperately need the money to run even the reduced festival programme.
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