Privatization of Bulgaria's National Palace of Culture Banned

Any privatization of Bulgaria's National Palace of Culture (NDK), a giant cultural and congress center in downtown Sofia, will be abolished, the country's Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov said Friday.

Djankov told the Bulgarian Parliament Friday that he has come up with a proposal on banning NDK's potential privatization, which is included in the new amendments to the country's privatization law.

The center's functions will not be changed, he added. Instead, it will be modernized and made more popular abroad.

Recently, several Unions, including those of the Bulgarian architects, filmmakers, artists and composers demanded that NDK's privatization should be abolished. Their concerns were triggered by a change in the center's status.

In early May, NDK was transformed into a public limited company (PLC) via a decision of the cabinet, which put the Finance Ministry in charge of is management and launched an audit procedure.

The largest multifunctional congress, conference, convention and exhibition center in Southeastern Europe, NDK was opened in 1981 and has an area of 123,000 m² on eight floors and three underground levels.

Curiously, more than 10,000 tons of steel were used for the construction of the NDK - 3,000 more than the Eiffel Tower.