Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Auction Off Gifts from Foreign Leaders for Charity
Italy’s right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is set to auction off 273 institutional gifts she received during her official trips abroad over the past three years. The gifts, primarily from other heads of state and government, are estimated to be worth around €800,000. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to charity, with the Rome auction house, Bertolami Fine Art, entitled to five per cent of the proceeds, up to a maximum of €40,000.
The items, currently stored in a government building, include a wide range of unique and symbolic gifts. According to Italian law, prime ministers are not allowed to keep items valued at more than €300, making the auction a necessary step. Meloni has also considered auctioning off gifts received by her predecessors, although the full list of items for sale has not been made public.
Unusual and Symbolic Gifts
The list of items up for auction includes a scarf presented to Meloni by Albanian prime minister Edi Rama, a traditional Kerala dress given by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, and a jewellery box presented by Slovakian president Peter Pellegrini. Other notable items include a fine porcelain tea set and six bottles of white wine from Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, a ceramic bowl from former US president Joe Biden, and around 15 carpets received during trips to Libya and other Arab countries.
The auction list also features more unusual gifts, such as a statuette of Argentine president Xavier Milei wielding a chainsaw, and a pair of blue python skin shoes with gold heels from Kamel Al Munajjed, director of the Saudi Italian Business Council. Additionally, Meloni received a piece of high-conductivity cable from CERN in Geneva, given by its director Fabiola Giannotti, and a tablet from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Charity Auction Details
While the exact date of the auction has not been announced, the proceeds will be donated to charity. The auction house, Bertolami Fine Art, won the tender to host the sale and will receive five per cent of the proceeds. The full list of items for sale has not been made public, but the estimated value of the gifts is around €800,000. For more information on the charity auction, visit Here