PvdA (labour party) and GroenLinks (green left party) want openness about the salaries paid by the cultural institution to its directors. The Muziekgebouw has long refused to make such figures public.
The questions of the groups come after the ED (Eindhovens Dagblad, Eindhoven daily newspaper) announced that the now-departed director Wim Vringer received a severance payment. Remarkable, because under Vringer’s leadership Muziekgebouw had to deal with financial problems for years.
And instead of coming clean, ‘in recent years hundreds of internal and external hours have been invested in avoiding transparency’, the parties write. The argumentation used by the Muziekgebouw to cover up the financial ins and outs of the organisation also does not hold water, according to the groups.
Half of the income
NV’s (Public Limited Companies) would not be obliged to be open if their business subsidy is less than 50 per cent of their income. In 2020, however, that subsidy would be 66 per cent of the Muziekgebouw’s income.
Finally, the groups want to know how the Municipal Executive looks back on its role as a shareholder of the Muziekgebouw. GroenLinks and PvdA want to know whether a ‘sharper’ interpretation of that role could have led to better and more transparent management.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
