Cost and Financing
The cost of the cathedral was estimated in 2006 by Evenimentul Zilei at more than €500 million (including the price of the land), while Le Figaro estimated it in 2008 at €1 billion. Patriarch Daniel estimated in 2007 the cost of the building (excluding the land) at around €400 million.
The government announced it will donate 30 million lei (€8 million) and the Romanian Parliament enacted a law by which further half of the cost of the Cathedral will be paid from the state budget.
This action received criticism from various sources: Daniel Dăianu, a Liberal European MP noted that the government has to reduce other parts of the budget in order to be able to pay for this and that it is a populist spending. Remus Cernea, the head of the Solidaritatea pentru libertatea de conştiinţă Association sent a complaint to the government regarding the donation of public funds to the Orthodox Church, and announced they will sue the government for not respecting the laws regarding the discrimination of religious movements.
Patriarch Daniel responded to criticism by arguing that its cost is not very big and that it costs less than the building of the new airport in Iaşi.
Read more about this topic: Romanian People's Salvation Cathedral
Famous quotes containing the word cost:
“Keeping accounts, Sir, is of no use when a man is spending his own money, and has nobody to whom he is to account. You won’t eat less beef today, because you have written down what it cost yesterday.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)