By Claudia Ciobanu
BUCHAREST, Aug 7 2007 (IPS)

Sibiu, one of the most dynamic regions in Romania, thrives as the European City of Culture for 2007. But its prosperity is not representative of the entire country.

Goran Bregovic and the Wedding and Funeral Orchestra played in the central square of Sibiu on Aug. 2 in front of an audience of 35,000 people. The concert was part of a series of 1,000 cultural events organised this year in Sibiu, as the town holds the title of European City of Culture for 2007.

Sibiu is about 280km northwest of capital Bucharest in what is known as the Transylvanian region.

Established in 1985, at the initiative of Greek culture minister Melina Mercouri, the programme European City of Culture (ECC) is meant to promote, year after year, European towns that boast rich cultural heritage and exciting artistic life.

Events like the Sibiu Jazz Festival, ASTRA Film Fest or the International Festival of Lyric Art had already been taking place in Sibiu for many years. This year, however, they were organised under the common framework of ECC, which, additionally, brought to Sibiu La Scala di Milano, Vienna Art Orchestra, Goran Bregovic, as well as many theatre and dance companies from around the world.

Sibiu’s mandate as ECC started on Jan 1, 2007, the same date that Romania officially became a member of the European Union (EU). The title of European City of Culture is shared with Luxembourg. The two cities had asked to divide the mandate, in light of their cultural ties and historical connections.

Sibiu, currently inhabited by 150,000 people, was established in the 12th century, when local rulers brought German settlers from the Moselle Valley (north-eastern France, south-western Germany and eastern Luxembourg) to build fortified cities and defend the area from Turks and Tatars. The historical town is now a centre for culture.

Being the European City of Culture allows Sibiu to enjoy more prestige than ever before, explains Sergiu Olteanu, one of the organisers of ECC 2007. Inhabitants of Sibiu no longer feel like they live in a provincial town, he says.

In addition, the organisers of ECC hope that the success of this year’s events will persuade managers of cultural events to use Sibiu as a location even after 2007.

“When you have managed to successfully put together more than one thousand cultural events, you have gathered considerable experience. This experience will become our ‘business card’ with which we hope to impress in the future numerous cultural operators from Romania and abroad,” Olteanu told IPS.

The total cost of the cultural events for the year has been estimated at 10.5 million euro. The Ministry of Culture and the local authorities are splitting this bill evenly. The EU is expected to contribute 500,000 euro, but this amount will be paid only at the end of the year.

But the costs of ECC go beyond the amount dedicated to culture. “A programme of European dimensions such as ECC could not have been organised in a city that does not have proper infrastructure,” Olteanu said. “Since Sibiu placed its bid for ECC in 2004, until 2007, around 100 million euro have been invested in the building of infrastructure.”

Most of the money went to the renovation of the historical centre of the town – fixing three main squares, upgrading sanitation and illumination systems, repairing more than 40 roads – and to the modernisation of the train station and the international airport in Sibiu. This was all paid for from the local and national budgets.

A small part of the investments will be recuperated throughout 2007. The National Association of Tourism Agencies estimates that roughly one million tourists would visit Sibiu this year. Half of them are expected to stay overnight in local hotels, while the other half would either be stopping just for the day or camping. Given that, in regular years, the average number of tourists visiting Sibiu is 150,000, the ECC is bringing important additional funds to the local budget and private businesses in the area.

However, most of the investments made on the occasion of the ECC bid are long-term, and ECC represents only one stage in a larger strategy for the development of Sibiu. Since 2000, the local authorities have been pursuing a bold plan of promoting private investments. Almost 90 percent of the capital invested in the area is now private. Unemployment stands at just around 3 percent. The local budget has increased tenfold over the past six years.

The success is, at least partially, due to mayor Klaus Johannis, representing the Democratic Forum of the Germans from Romania, and his connections with investors from Germanic countries. Although the German population of Sibiu stands nowadays at less than 2 percent, Johannis, first elected mayor in 2000, was re-elected in 2004 with 89 percent of the vote.

The success story of Sibiu might suggest that the rest of Romania will follow suit, benefiting from foreign investment and pan-European connections. But Sibiu is not, and never has been, representative for the entire the country.

“Crossing into Transylvania from the south, I was amazed by how quickly the scenery, infrastructure, and people’s mood changed,” said Etienne Jaboeuf, a French tourist travelling through Romania. “You feel the difference wherever you turn. It’s obvious the region emerged from another historical and cultural source.”

“I’m surprised they are not asking for a passport when you want to enter Sibiu,” sayss Bogdan Vasilescu, a journalist working in Bucharest.

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