/ world today news/ The BGN 87 million allocated so far to cover the expenses of the Bulgarian Presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2018 are obviously not enough for the meeting rooms and offices in the National Palace of Culture, where events are concentrated, to be furnished with author’s furniture.
Instead, most of the tables, upholstered furniture and chairs are plagiarized from famous European designers. This was established by a BGNES check of the presidency’s website. It also turns out that there is no documentary trail left on the page of the Bulgarian Presidency – how it came to choosing a company to prepare the design of the furniture.
On 20.12.2016, a contract was concluded between the National Center for the Preparation and Implementation of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and “Pavlov Architects” EOOD for the preparation of the technical terms of reference for the technical specification for the award of a public contract with the subject: Supply of interior and office furnishing the halls and premises. Apart from this short message, there is no other information – how and when the company in question was chosen, which is the sole property of Krasimir Dimitrov. There is also no information on how much the Presidency will pay for the secret contract with a company for which there is no information in the Internet search engines. “Pavlov Architects” does not have a website, and it is not clear whether it has ever performed such a large-scale assignment.
On Wednesday, while the caretaker government was adopting another budget plan for the Presidency, the technical specifications for the upholstered furniture, chairs, tables and desks with which on January 1, 2018 the National Palace of Culture must be equipped to accommodate the thousands were published on the website representatives of European institutions, foreign and Bulgarian visitors who will be involved with the EU Presidency. It is clear from the documentation that more than 70 sofas, several dozen armchairs, 100 tables, about 1000 chairs will be needed. These items are intended to be placed in the areas around the halls where the meetings will be held, as well as in the premises where the delegations of the 27 EU member states will be accommodated. Separately from them, several dozen modules will be made for the meeting room, where the meetings of the Council of the EU will be held. The hall will also have 336 eco-leather meeting chairs.
In the specification there are detailed descriptions of the interior equipment and furniture, their dimensions and even photographs are attached. For some of the sofas, chairs and tables, it is even indicated that they should be similar to models that are made by popular European designers. So it turns out that a large part of the furniture of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU will be plagiarized “designer” furniture. For example, the state will pay for the production of 44 replicas of the designer chair “Prince” by the designer Rodolfo Dordoni, as well as his art tables with special marble.
Eight fakes of Jeffrey Bernett’s “Metropolitan” designer armchair are planned to be placed in the delegates’ cafeteria. It is still not clear – how much the copy of the designer model will cost, but in the original the price of one piece amounts to 2310 British pounds or 5260 BGN. Among the other replicas that should appear in the native NDK are bar chairs by the designer Konstantin Gricic, which is priced at US$859.
It turns out that designer furniture replicas aren’t the cheapest either. For example, a copy of a tube table by the designer Rodolfo Dordoni can be found on the Internet with a discount of 50% for 269 euros.
It is not clear how the European institutions, which are extremely concerned about the protection of copyright and related rights, would accept a situation in which the furniture that will be used for the presidency is plagiarized by European designers, and their replicas are made and delivered from Asia.
On Wednesday, the caretaker government granted the National Center for the Preparation and Conduct of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU the sum of BGN 6.3 million, which should go towards the purchase of technical equipment for the delegates. BGN 17 million have been spent so far on the renovation of the National Palace of Culture alone, and it is expected that this amount will increase significantly. Although there are less than nine months to go until next January 1, the administration has not yet announced any of the dozens of public procurements to be held. It is not excluded, due to excessive delay, that direct awarding of contracts will be reached, which will certainly be at the expense of the inflated price. Estimates show that the Bulgarian EU Presidency will cost the budget between BGN 130 and 150 million.
BGNES recalls that ten days ago, the National Center for the Preparation and Conduct of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU refused to name the employees who work for the most responsible event since our country’s membership in the Community. All employees declared in writing that they wish to remain anonymous, the center explained to BGNES.
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