Bulgarian state leaders have kick-started the construction of a brand new top museum to be known as the "Bulgarian Louvre".
The government is investing up to 20 million Leva in the new cultural complex which will be located in the heart of downtown Sofia, linking together a building of the National Gallery and premises formerly used by the Sofia Technical University.
The decision for the construction of the museum was originally made in December 2009, with 2.5 million Leva funding coming from the EU Regional Development Operational Program.
Asked if it might be better to freeze the construction of the museum complex because of the economic crisis, Bulgarian PM Borisov replied "We are investing in industry and these investments are going to provide returns in the future".
"Culture Minister Rashidov has pointed out that 40 million people visit Florence every year and each of them spends around 100 Euro on museum tickets", the Prime Minister continued as he and Rashidov broke the ground of the new project.
Borisov said he hoped that the museum will be ready by mid 2012 together with the second line of the Sofia Metro and the Sofia waste processing plant.
"We have 2.5 million Leva from the EU, and about 15 million from the state budget. Now let’s roll up our sleeves, and start building this nice museum. Everybody’s talking about the crisis but this construction will cost the equivalent of a Christmas bonus for state employees. And once we are done, we will have a museum standing forever", promised the head of the government.
As a gesture to the future Bulgarian museum, the Bulgarian government presented three original paintings of Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, and Salvador Dali.
Minister Rashidov said he hoped that the new Bulgarian Louvre would help to spur cultural tourism. "When you go to Florence ..." he continued " ... there are 40 million tourists there visiting five establishments, leaving behind 100 Euro each. You can calculate how much the city of Florence makes from the tourists. This is going to be a completed museum. We will no longer speak about foreign art because we are in Europe. This will be a museum of European art."
The government is investing up to 20 million Leva in the new cultural complex which will be located in the heart of downtown Sofia, linking together a building of the National Gallery and premises formerly used by the Sofia Technical University.
The decision for the construction of the museum was originally made in December 2009, with 2.5 million Leva funding coming from the EU Regional Development Operational Program.
Asked if it might be better to freeze the construction of the museum complex because of the economic crisis, Bulgarian PM Borisov replied "We are investing in industry and these investments are going to provide returns in the future".
"Culture Minister Rashidov has pointed out that 40 million people visit Florence every year and each of them spends around 100 Euro on museum tickets", the Prime Minister continued as he and Rashidov broke the ground of the new project.
Borisov said he hoped that the museum will be ready by mid 2012 together with the second line of the Sofia Metro and the Sofia waste processing plant.
"We have 2.5 million Leva from the EU, and about 15 million from the state budget. Now let’s roll up our sleeves, and start building this nice museum. Everybody’s talking about the crisis but this construction will cost the equivalent of a Christmas bonus for state employees. And once we are done, we will have a museum standing forever", promised the head of the government.
As a gesture to the future Bulgarian museum, the Bulgarian government presented three original paintings of Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, and Salvador Dali.
Minister Rashidov said he hoped that the new Bulgarian Louvre would help to spur cultural tourism. "When you go to Florence ..." he continued " ... there are 40 million tourists there visiting five establishments, leaving behind 100 Euro each. You can calculate how much the city of Florence makes from the tourists. This is going to be a completed museum. We will no longer speak about foreign art because we are in Europe. This will be a museum of European art."
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