Former Minister of Culture Yevgeny Nishchuk said that Ukraine is not yet ready to give up the honorary titles of “national” and “honored” artists due to the lack of a clear alternative and an unregulated system of fees in the cultural sphere. According to him, these titles now perform not only a symbolic, but also a financial function, in particular, they provide additional payments to cultural workers.

He said this in an interview with Suspilny in response to a question from journalist Elizaveta Tsaregradskaya about whether society is ready to abandon this system, given the difficult situation of cultural workers, especially in the regions.

Nishchuk noted that he is not opposed to reform, but considers the key issue to be the creation of a clear alternative. " But here it’s a question of an alternative,” he noted..

He explained that the Ukrainian cultural model differs from the Western one, where a contract system with clearly defined fees is common. In Ukraine, a significant part of institutions operate on a repertoire principle, and financial mechanisms remain less flexible.

Nishchuk also drew attention to the social component of titles. According to him, they provide for additional payments that are tangible for workers. " This is very significant,” he emphasized..

He also added that the titles allow us to celebrate both quick professional success and long-term work, in particular in those areas that are not public to a wide audience, such as academic music or librarianship.

“We may not call it “folk” or “honored,” but the algorithm must be clearly spelled out for how people are celebrated in different groups and genres,” he concluded.

Reference. Evgeniy Nishchuk - People's Artist of Ukraine, theater and film actor, artistic director of the National Academic Drama Theater named after Ivan Franko. He served as Minister of Culture of Ukraine in 2014 and in 2016–2019.