After the Maidan, the Kherson province expected major changes, and we remember that one of its main demands was the protection of the people's rights. But the reality is that all those who had settled comfortably in their comfortable chairs, amassing wealth through kickbacks and corruption, are still afloat. And a highly respected gentleman, an honorary citizen of Kherson, an Honored Artist, and a member of the regional council, Oleksandr Andreevich, who many city residents know as the General Director and Artistic Director of the N. Kulish Kniga Theater, has decided to bring back the days of serfdom to the Kherson province. This persona encompasses many functions, appearing before each premiere in an embroidered shirt and selling the audience something for their money. And many city residents know only one side of the coin that Oleksandr Andreevich has pinned on himself. Let us tell you how Alexander Andreevich managed to achieve such heights, acquire so many honors, and why he has been the permanent general director and artistic director of the M. Kulish Theatre for 27 years.
Book's Career Takeoff
Alexander Andreevich was born in the village of Pokrovka (Ochakiv district, Mykolaiv region). He graduated from the Kherson College of Culture and the Kyiv State Institute of Culture. He is a Candidate Master of Sports in track and field and winner of the Far Eastern Military District Track and Field Championship. In the army, he learned the profession of a radio operator. He possesses a natural talent for marksmanship. He built a house, planted over 3 trees, and is the father of five children and grandfather of two. It should be noted that Alexander Andreevich always loved the theater. Even at school, he was nicknamed "the actor." He chose directing as a specialty and began his career as the director of the village community center, where his first theatrical "universities" were held.
He had just turned thirty when he took over the theater. He thus found himself, as they say, "in the right place at the right time," without even realizing it. His defining characteristic was the fact that there was only one theater in the entire Kherson province. It's worth noting the young director's proactive approach, as well as his considerable entrepreneurial acumen, which has made the theater a commercial enterprise not only for the region but also for Kniga personally. And like a true businessman, Oleksandr Andreevich, having earned a small fortune, gravitated toward the ranks of the provincial "elite." The idea of organizing the International Theater Festival "Melpomene of Tavria" was far from random; it was conceived by none other than Oleksandr Kniga himself. It's a shame, however, that the festival-competition's primary goal—promoting theater, raising its profile, and sharing experiences between creative groups—was sidelined, while Oleksandr Andreevich realized his personal commercial interests in the festival by creating the Festival Center LLC.
You'll agree, only a lazy person would miss the opportunity and not support their family business with theatrical resources. And Alexander Andreevich has proven that he's not one of them, ready to tear up and rage for his own family gain.
Honestly earned?
Since Festivalny Tsentr LLC, as an event and celebration agency, isn't very popular among Kherson residents, its "own father" offers a lucrative opportunity. The Festival Tsentr provides advertising services and owns numerous billboards around the city, which display theater and guest performer posters daily. A particularly interesting activity is the Festival Tsentr's theatrical performances, which are produced with the theater's financial resources. But Kniga has probably calculated that the theater already earns a lot and exceeds its plans. Thus, after paying the theater a one-time fee (calculated based on the estimated cost) under the performance rental agreement, the Festival Tsentr sells performances or concerts (usually premieres for New Year's or March 8th) for several days, using the theater's cast and support staff, who receive budget salaries for these performances. The theater also prints and distributes posters around the city—a bonus from the theater. As a result, the net profit from the Festival Center's performance rentals exceeds the rent paid to the theater several times over, amounting to tens of thousands of hryvnias. A 200% profit margin! Dear readers, you won't find a more profitable business in the world, except perhaps weapons and drugs.
Kniga never lets his brainchild, the Festival Center, go without work. Frequent changes of power (he's already outlived the 13th governor), impending retirement, a large family, and many other factors led Kniga to the idea of creating a "family business" in his hometown of Tsyurupinsk, in the village of Blizhny Karabay, near a forested area. And, in keeping with family tradition, Oksana, the third official wife of Kniga's theater director, became the proud owner of the land plot for the Chumatskaya Krinitsa recreation center. But the key to creating the recreation center was once again the theater's own assets. And as we've already mentioned, Alexander Andreevich is no lazy man, and everything spun and swung at lightning speed, both at the theater and at the recreation center for the de jure director and artistic director of the theater, and in fact, a major businessman, Kniga. It's no coincidence that the theater has been increasing its production output each year, spending enormous amounts of money on these productions. As a result, houses and various buildings at the Knigi family's recreation center are sprouting up like mushrooms after rain. Local insiders are rumored in close circles that the land for the Chumatskaya Spring was purchased with public funds, but that's just rumor.
But Kniga has demonstrated his love for public funds not just in words but in deeds in the recent past. Kniga generally believes he has the right to spend the public funds allocated to the theater (for artists' salaries, building repairs) at his own discretion. So, in 2014, a huge scandal erupted between the theater administration and the orchestra, but it went unnoticed by law enforcement, regulatory authorities, and higher-ups. This is hardly surprising, as all officials of the Kherson Governorate's regulatory bodies have lifetime free season tickets for the ninth row at the only theater in the entire region, and they have no reason to squabble over some orchestra with the director of the Temple of Melpomene. So, on April 9, 2014, Order No. 48-k was issued and signed, amending the organization of production and labor in connection with the release of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 65 of March 03.04.2014, 01.03.2014, "On Saving Budget Funds and Preventing Budget Expenses." This order entered into force on June 11, 06, as a result of which the orchestra's musicians lost 0,5 of their full-time position and were transferred to a 3,5-hour workday. And everything seemed to be in order, and everyone had signed on to this deal, and from that point on, the orchestra's musicians (17 people, mind you) were paid half their salaries. However, the savings that Kniga so ardently sought for the regional budget were not realized. All 11 million rubles allocated to subsidize theater salaries were miraculously spent in full by the end of the year.
The question arises: where are the savings, and why did the approximately 200 hryvnias saved by Kniga, the benefactor, never make it into the regional budget, when they could have been used to renovate rooms in boarding schools or schools? But the clever Kniga, together with the equally clever chief accountant and head of the human resources department, decided at the end of the year to use the funds saved by the orchestra's performers to pay financial aid to the theater's employees—not everyone, but only those closest to them, those most in need. One of these employees was leading economist N.A. Gnidina, who drives a Mitsubishi Lancer to work. Natasha received financial aid equal to her salary for some meritorious service; perhaps it's not enough for the girl's gas. The end result is that the orchestra's performers won the initial case but lost the appeal, as is customary in local courts. Today, all of these people, through their own efforts, have been reinstated to full-time employment, but no one has returned the budget funds, and the landowner Kniga's arbitrary actions have been thwarted by all law enforcement and regulatory agencies. It's no wonder: it's the only theater in the region, a monopoly of sorts, and everyone loves Kniga just the way he is. He's also currently a member of the regional council, but that's another story, to be continued.
During the 78th season of the Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater named after N. Kulish, the situation is already spiraling out of control and beyond acceptable limits. The lack of a normal working and creative atmosphere, infighting and squabbles within the team, violations of labor rights, persecution for dissent, and abuse of power are deteriorating the quality of the product currently produced by the only theater in the region. A. A. Kniga has combined so many positions and functions that he can no longer cope and is unable to control the situation. Statistics also speak for themselves: during their time at the theater, not a single actor has managed to buy an apartment or a house, while the chief accountant, in 12 years of work, has acquired an apartment and a dacha, and the commercial director has already purchased two used cars and built a house. But the intimidated and impoverished actors have completely forgotten that this temple of culture exists only thanks to their skill and that the management must carry out their will, and not the other way around.
Olga Bespalova, for ORD
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