ERR News – KUMU, the Art Museum of Estonia, has asked the Ministry of Culture to bump up the museum's yearly budget by 250,000 euros, due to the growing cost of heating as the facility enters the open electricity market.
Companies that consume more than two gigawatt hours per year are currently required to buy electricity from the more expensive open market.
According to Sirje Helme, Director General of KUMU, an additional 304,874 euros is needed to cover the property's expenses.
Currently, all of the operational, management and salary costs are partly covered by the museum's own revenue, which for 2011 is estimated to be around 1.35 million euros.
In the first five months of 2011, the museum paid 33,779 euros more for electricity and 735 euros less for heating, compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Culture.
Ministry representatives have said that they do not understand the basis of the assumption that the museum will not make ends meet, asking Helme to explain her concern more thoroughly.
