The head of the Bolshoi Theater is not appointed by the president, Peskov said

ST. PETERSBURG, November 17. The President of Russia does not appoint the head of the Bolshoi Theater, said press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov.
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“It’s not the president who appoints him. You know that initially there was talk of different, let’s say, options for managing the system of large theaters. The conversation came up at various meetings, including with the participation of the president. But so far there are no decisions,” he told reporters.

When asked whether the Cabinet of Ministers could make this decision before the end of the year, Peskov replied that “the government can make it at any time.” He stressed that the Kremlin does not announce such things.

The presidential press secretary also said that Putin in St. Petersburg did not communicate with the head of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev or the general director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin.

Earlier today, the Izvestia newspaper reported that the posts of management of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters will be combined by conductor, artistic director and general director of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev. The publication claims that this may be announced at the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, which takes place from November 16 to 18.

Gergiev himself said on the sidelines of the forum that he was already “busy enough and wasn’t looking for an opportunity to work even more». At the same time, he added that he considers it necessary and necessary to work in his country.
As the special representative of the president for international cultural cooperation, Mikhail Shvydkoy, told reporters, the unification of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters is impossible, but Gergiev can lead both theaters.
In his own In turn, the press service of the Bolshoi Theater refused to comment on reports that the general director of the institution, Vladimir Urin, submitted a letter of resignation of his own free will.