"Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, will offload 270 gifts given to her by world leaders during her travels abroad, from a chainsaw-wielding statuette of Javier Milei, the Argentinian president, to a pair of blue python skin shoes with gold heels, in a charity auction. The presents, which together are worth an estimated 800,000 (700,000), will be put up for sale to the highest bidder by the Rome-based Bertolami Fine Art, a person at the auction house confirmed."
"A date is yet to be set, although the intention is to hold the auction before Christmas, with the proceeds going to various charities. The items are locked away in a storage room on the third floor at Palazzo Chigi, the office of the Italian prime minister, Il Foglio reported. Meloni is also reportedly planning to auction off gifts received by her predecessors that have been gathering dust in the room for years."
"By law, a prime minister cannot bring home presents worth more than 300. Among the items were a scarf from Edi Rama, the Albanian prime minister, given to Meloni for her 46th birthday in January. Rama got down on his knees to present the scarf when the pair met at an energy security meeting in Abu Dhabi. There is also a traditional Kerala dress from Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, that she received during the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022,"
Giorgia Meloni will auction 270 gifts received from world leaders during foreign trips, including items such as a chainsaw-wielding statuette of Javier Milei and blue python-skin shoes with gold heels. The presents are collectively valued at about 800,000 (700,000) and will be sold by Rome-based Bertolami Fine Art, with proceeds directed to various charities. The auction is planned before Christmas and the items are currently locked in a storage room at Palazzo Chigi. Meloni intends to include gifts left by predecessors. An 11-page list of declared gifts prompted a parliamentary query about complying with the 300 value limit for ministers.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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