Giorgia Meloni renounces the sale of official gifts received during her mandate. What is the reason
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's plan to auction off official gifts received during her tenure was scrapped before it could go ahead after the selected auction house was embroiled in a criminal investigation. The information is reported by Politico.
Giorgia Meloni received a statuette with him from Javier Milei. PHOTO: Facebook/Ian Bremmer
Bertolami Fine Art, the company chosen to organize the sale, is being investigated in a large-scale case of illegal trafficking of archaeological artefacts. According to the Italian media, the founder and owner of the auction house was suspended in the context of this investigation, notes News.ro.
Prosecutors claim that a network of traffickers would have stolen archaeological objects and used them through auction houses, including Bertolami, in order to lose track of them and reintroduce them to the legal art market. Bertolami has denied any involvement in illegal activities in the past.
The prime minister's office specified that Giorgia Meloni was not aware of the existence of the investigation at the time the auction house was chosen, stressing that the investigation is subject to judicial confidentiality. Palazzo Chigi announced that it immediately severed ties with Bertolami after the details of the case were revealed by the publication Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Official gifts and legal rules
According to Italian law, the prime minister cannot personally keep gifts worth more than 300 euros received from foreign leaders. For this reason, most of the objects are stored in a secure room at Palazzo Chigi and are not on public display, as there is no official inventory.
However, some of the gifts received by Giorgia Meloni have aroused public interest, among them a statuette offered by Argentine President Javier Milei and a necklace of diamonds, gold and citrine quartz, given in January 2023, during a state visit to Uzbekistan, by President Shavkat Mîrzioev.
The auction, canceled in the meantime, should have raised approximately 800,000 euros, with most of the sums to be directed to charitable organizations, and a smaller part to cover the commissions of the auction house.
