Romanian nationalists used to harass their voters with the question indicated in the title, and it will probably continue to do so now. However, the Wesselényi castle in Zsibo was legally bought by the Hungarian state from its owner. András Janicskó, the heir of the castle, told MTI on Tuesday: the business consulting company Micro Vision Consult Kft. in Cluj - which bought the monument building from him on April 20 - immediately sold the castle. This is confirmed by the latest land register extract.
Thus, it became the property of Manevi Zrt., which is part of the portfolio of A Magyar Nemzeti Vagyonkeszela Zrt. Manevi Zrt. previously bought two historic buildings in Szatmár county: the former Pannónia hotel in the center of Szatmárnémeti and the Nagykárolyi building from which the town's mayor's office moved in 2014.
The Wesselényi castle in Zsibo has been sold for almost a decade by the heir, who realized that he was unable to raise the funds necessary for the renovation and operation of the castle. Bucharest-based Artmark Historical Estate Kft. sought buyers for the castle, constantly reducing the price, which was finally agreed upon at 800,000 euros (288 million forints).
The Romanian laws granted a right of pre-emption to the institutions embodying the Romanian state: the Ministry of Culture, the Szilágy County Council and the Zsibo Mayor's Office. After the Ministry of Culture waived its right of pre-emption in March, the Szilágy county government indicated that it would buy the building.
At its meeting on April 28, the council decided to start sales negotiations,
appointed a negotiation committee, and allocated money in its budget for the business. It was only later that he was confronted with the fact that the historically significant property had already changed hands a week earlier.
As Itthon.hu notes: there will be a circus here!
