Mr. Cristian Tudose, the local counselors approved the process of purchasing the Dinu Lipatti House by the Sector 1 City Hall. It's a historic monument that can be found at Lascăr Catargiu Boulevard, no. 12. How did the Sector 1 City Hall create this initiative?

A council decision was initiated at the previous council meeting on March 27th by mayor George Tuță, after he noticed the Dinu Lipatti House up for sale on a real estate website. As we all know, it's a monument building, class B, which is why he brought the request of purchase to the council's attention. There are some steps that have to be taken, legally speaking. Given that Sector 1 has no patrimony, we can only purchase for and in the name of the Bucharest municipality and the City Hall. For a monument building, there has to be something called the pre-emption right, which means having priority when purchasing. Here, the priority goes to the Ministry of Culture and its subordinate institutions , according to law 422/2001, but through the 2023 addendum, Government Ordinance no. 8, intervening to save monument buildings is allowed for local authorities. In conclusion, the mayor informed the council of this matter that was both delicate and important for Sector 1 and Bucharest's patrimony, to preserve the memory of the great pianist Dinu Lipatti. This decision was unanimously approved by the council. Now we're waiting for approval from Bucharest's City Hall, and there's no reason why it wouldn't be approved, especially since Sector 1 is providing the funding. Afterwards we'll notify the seller, a bailiff, of our intent to purchase. That's when the negotiation process will start, discussions, price and everything else.

Is there an estimate as to how long it'll take for the process to complete?

We depend on the Bucharest City Hall's approval. We're waiting to receive it, especially because, as I've mentioned before, the Bucharest City Hall won't be involved financially, we're the ones bearing the cost, but we have to go through the legal procedure. On the other hand, the bailiff who put the house up for sale to recover debts from the owners was cooperative and open to the idea, he sent the notices to the Sector 1 City Hall, as well as to other institutions, The Ministry of Culture and the Bucharest City Hall, and will wait. It's in his interest that the pre-emption right is respected according to the law. We're probably talking weeks, maybe a month or so. It shouldn't take longer, given that we already voted on the budget.

If we get approval from the General Council, the Sector 1 City Hall will use its pre-emption right as a local authority according to Government Ordinance no. 8. Then, a negotiation committee will be formed, consisting of local counselors and employees from the Mayor's Office's specialized body. They will be following the progress of this so-called pact slowly, and then carry out their own survey, because aside from the survey offered by the seller, regardless of whether they're a bailiff or a natural person, the City Hall must have its own survey report to indicate whether the sale price is honest, fair, legal and within the purchase criterion. There might be one or two surveys, which shouldn't take long, somewhere between a week and 10 days. After that, the committee will negotiate with the seller, whether it's a bailiff or the owner, they'll agree upon a price which they'll then communicate to the Local Council, after which the value and the purchase will be approved. The first step is the practical start, which means making the payments, starting the acquisition process, transferring money from our budget, and also another very important step: when the purchase is made, what happens to the purchase will also be decided. Given that we're talking about a monument building with great cultural and architectural significance, it's clear that it will be a cultural center or the Dinu Lipatti memorial house. This is what it's been for the past few years.

What's the allotted budget for the purchase of this estate and where does the funding come from?

We haven't decided on the budget yet. The estate has eight rooms. During the nationalization it was spilt into multiple units, as it happened with all estates during that time. The Lipatti house was split into two units, a 150 square meters one, which, including the 700 meters courtyard , is worth around 1,292,000 euros. The second apartment is smaller, at only 75 square meters, and is worth around 240,000 euros. These values are established through surveys conducted by the bailiff and the properties are put up for sale both on the real estate market and to the local and central authorities. And from there we'll see what negotiations can be carried out. But we'll go below that price, not above, because purchases are always made below the survey price so there won't be any issues.

There's a similar initiative from the Ministry of Culture through the Bucharest municipality's Culture Department. How do you intend to apply these initiatives?

We'll correlate them. These initiatives can only be undertaken as a team. I've spoken within the Ministry and the Culture Department, I know the steps. We'll see, depending on financial possibilities. Given Sector 1's substantial budget, we've shown our availability through the mayor's initiative to purchase for the municipality, especially to save the building from demolition, because that would have been its fate. It doesn't mean that if a superior institution, as in, the Ministry of Culture or one of its subordinates, shows its willingness to purchase it, we won't back down on the payment priority, because this is basically what we're talking about, who will pay. Nowadays, I don't think many entities will jump at the chance. I do know that there's a remarkable civil initiative and this is my way of saluting the initiative of the people at Grafoart, who started a fundraiser to save the Dinu Lipatti house. If the civil society, the local authorities don't get involved, like it happened with other monument buildings, even one right across the Dinu Lipatti House, the houses are left to collapse on purpose, are demolished on purpose, to free up space for these "wonderful" glass and metal buildings we see all over the former Little Paris.

So the support of the civil society and NGO's played a major role in the decision the Sector 1 City Hall made?

Yes. We have always communicated directly with the civil society, as well as civil initiative groups. Mayor George Tuță was always open to requests from citizens and civil societies on various aspects. We're eagerly waiting for the speed with which our colleagues from the General Council will mobilize to approve Sector 1 City Hall's purchase agreement. The sector is the last unit of the local administration that can use the pre-emption right. According to the law, the hierarchic order is: the Ministry of Cloture, the institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Culture, the Bucharest City Hall, the subordinates to the Bucharest City Hall, then the sectors. We need to move fast so we don't allow a piece of culture disappear irreparably. It's a building situated in a very culturally and architecturally important area, the Lascăr Catargiu Boulevard, in the vicinity of the Romanian Athenaeum, the statue of George Enescu, where Magheru and Enescu intersect, so it's a cultural object that must be saved for the sake of the sector and the Capital's cultural identity.