The mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, announced that, in a few weeks, the Bucharest Court of Appeal would give the final sentence in the last trial that the City Hall has with the owners of Cathedral Plaza, a 19-story illegal office building in downtown Bucharest close to the Saint Joseph Cathedral.

He said he hopes to begin demolition works if the decision is favorable, as a "sign of the health of our democracy."

"It is the emblem of real estate corruption in Bucharest, and the fact that it will be demolished one day will be a sign of the health of our democracy," the mayor said, G4media.ro reported.

The demolition order for the building was issued by the Bucharest City Hall in July 2022, 12 years after it was completed. But the owners of the building argued in court that even if built illegally, the building fits the urban plan of the city – and this is the essence of the last trial, mayor Nicusor Dan explained.

"Let's say your grandmother has a house she built without authorization 60 years ago. It doesn't mean we have to demolish it. We have to see if this construction fits into the Urban Plan of the locality, and most of them do. The owners of Cathedral Plaza resorted to this mechanism of entry into legality. In my opinion, totally unjustified," he said.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Albertophotography/Dreamstime.com)