Parvalorem and Parups, the two public companies that hold the Miró art collection, have told they must pay fines for the illegal export of the artwork in 2013.
The fine is reportedly €35,000 according to the General Directorate of Heritage.
The companies say this amount is way below what they could have ended up being fined, as if this was some sort of mitigating factor to excuse their incompetent behaviour.
The correct scale of fine is between €100,000 and €500,000 according to the Secretary of State for Culture, Jorge Barreto Xavier, who amazingly still has his job despite being slated by the judge presiding over an earlier injunction who commented that Xavier had acted in a "manifestly illegal" way by authorising the export for sale of the works. Illegal behaviour in the heady world of Portuguese Culture seems quite acceptable then.
According to company sources each company was told to pay a fine of €17,457.92 “for having requested the release of the works outside the statutory period," according to General Directorate of Cultural Heritage.
According to the laws covering cultural heritage, all shipping of artwork, whether classified or not, requires a report to be sent to the competent authority at least 30 days prior to departure.
Parvalorem and Parups are limited companies created in 2010 by the state to manage the assets and recover credits of former bank BPN.
The sale of the collection of 85 works by the Catalan artist Joan Miró originally was scheduled for February but was canceled by the auction house Christie’s which did not consider the sale legally secure after the Administrative Court in Lisbon pointed out several procedural illegalities on the Portuguese side of the deal.
The art collection now is cleared for export but once again legally blocked by a third injunction, this time from the Public Prosecutor.
Prime Minister is increasingly irate that the simple task of selling a collection of paintings has descended into a farce which is being played out in full view of an unforgiving media. Passos Coelho still has failed to answer some simple questions about the sale which brings suspicions that there is more to this deal that meets the public eye.
In the light of a reserve price of €32 million, why was a cash bid of €50 million rejected?
Why was the contract between Parapublica and Christie's not sent to the Court of Auditors?
Why was there an attempt in parliament to keep the contract away from the scrutiny of MPs?
What is the deal with Christie's and why is it shrouded in suspicion that if the auction fails, the auction house can 'acquire' the collection for €32 million and sell it on, presumably to the man who already has offered €50 million.
Why are those in charge of this process who have acted illegally still drawing a taxpayer-funded salary?
Is there anyone involved in this fiasco with organsational skills that could be used for excursions to breweries?
