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The association brings together 50 large companies including event organizers, ticket dealers, stadiums, technical providers and more. According to its manager V. Petreikis, the activities of all companies have practically stopped. He described the outline of the event.
“The event organizer actually receives income, and then it all spills out into the hall, ticket dealers, sound equipment companies, artists, presenters, photographers, graphic design, it probably ends up with protection, food vendors, cleaning. There are many of these companies, and if the event organizer does not receive that income, then the whole industry does not receive it either, ”said V. Petreikis in the Seimas Economic Committee.
He compares that in reality this year the event organizers only worked for a month.
“The top 10 companies represent about half of the market: 30 million per year. This year, these companies actually worked for a month. January is not an event month, some of them took place in February, and the other years are closed for these companies, ”says V. Petreikis.
Valdas Petreikis
In the summer, when the restrictions were lowered, he said, they worked “for sporting interest,” but there were very few events, the stadiums were empty and people themselves avoid going to events, they don’t buy tickets.
Companies can only survive if they are allowed to not refund money for tickets sold and to postpone events.
“Businesses, the largest and the smallest, lost between 80 and 90 percent. Normal annual income. In fact, they are eating this money now, so we don’t see the bankruptcy stream now. We don’t see the bankruptcies flow, but they are simply using the resources they have inside, ”says V. Petreikis.
He warns that this creates a “delayed bankruptcy bomb” that will carry over to next year.
“The quarantine and the current situation, the second wave, practically ruined this sector, it no longer exists”, says V. Petreikis.
SEL concert may not take place in December
The representative of the event organizers also used the example of the best-selling Lithuanian artist as an argument.
“The bravest performer, Egidijus Dragūnas, announced a concert in Kalnai Park – canceled. This is the best-selling Lithuanian artist, has sold the biggest concert in Žalgiris Arena. Removed Mountain Park, will also remove December concert due to the next second wave, ”said V. Petreikis.
Currently, tickets for SEL’s concert in Kaunas “Žalgiris Arena” in December are on sale.
The head of the association warned that the mood was very bad.
“They say it will move the events into next year. I will not organize two festivals next year. We have a target bomb programmed when the bankruptcy wave subsides. (…) There is no longer a natural cash flow for our sector ”, says V. Petreikis.
He explained that even with the current restrictions on being able to sit in the second chair in the hall, it is not possible for private event organizers to make a profit.
“The public sector can operate in the room selling between 20 and 30 percent. Filling the room since they are subsidized and everything is in order. Private organizer, that part of the sector that creates added value, its recovery is usually 50 at 60 percent. corridors. It’s revenge, I’m not talking about profit. Under current limitations, we can’t generate more than 50 percent. flow, “said V. Petreikis.
According to him, the big concerts of world-class artists are postponed until 2021. in the fall.
In Lithuania, about 13 thousand people work with events for which tickets are sold. people, said the head of the association.
There is no separate support
The representatives of the Association have asked the members of the Seimas subsidies for the employees; Currently, business support programs are coming to an end, but the events sector has been exceptionally affected.
“The help that is given to the employee is necessary. Not for the company, but for the employee. It is necessary to extend and make a reasonable amount of these subsidies so that people can survive for some time until the industry is completely closed, ”said Diana Bukantaitė, vice president of the RIAV board.
According to her, help would be needed until spring, when the COVID-19 vaccine would be available or better weather would come. She suggested tying aid to a minimum wage because people will no longer be able to survive.
However, they did not receive much sympathy at the Seimas.
Kristina Makskvytienė, representative of the Ministry of Social Security and Labor, explained that the subsidies for downtime for all sectors are still valid under current regulations.
“Under the current legal framework, it is possible to pay downtime subsidies not only this year but also next, as long as the emergency situation continues, quarantine and until the employer declares the downtime. The Employment Law also provides for the payment of an allowance for employees when the employer cancels their downtime and the employee returns for 6 months. But this measure is valid until December 31, “explained K. Makskvytienė.
According to her, the government working group agreed that “it is not appropriate to select a single sector and set a higher subsidy payment percentage for the sector.” She recalled that there were proposals in the Seimas to pay higher subsidies, but the project was not approved.
Dainius Kreivys, vice president of the Seimas Economic Committee, pointed out that in Lithuania, the economy has already recovered and “industry and commerce are happy.”
“There are two areas where we have the biggest problems, where more than 13,000 people work. people, in restaurants – again 10 thousand. These are not huge funds. We pass laws in the Seimas and the Government and we pay benefits to people of retirement age, the thirteenth pension and everything else, the funds that the Government finds. But for people who work in the most affected sectors, it seems that they do not have them. At this point, perhaps we would like to address, both personally and probably from the committee, a letter to the Minister indicating that these measures should be reviewed, ”said D. Kreivys.
The Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation, Jekaterina Rojaka, recognized that it is time to move from horizontal support measures to specific ones.
“We see that sectors such as tourism, passenger transport, as well as the organization of events, can face long-term challenges,” says Rojaka.
He stressed that the measures would be focused on two speeds: providing immediate liquidity and innovative solutions or reorientation.
The Seimas Economic Committee debated whether the measures were sufficient or whether they were worth targeting “zombie” companies that could resurrect them.
Representatives of the event organizers assured that the existing measures were not only too small, but that they did not work at all, they sighed for a display of the responses of the institutions indicating that the proposals had been considered, but nothing had changed as a result.
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