The Closing Event of the Twinning Light Bulgaria on Cultural Goods

Among the Italian participants at the final conference under the Twinning light Bulgaria "Strengthening the Administrative Capacity of the Public Prosecutor's Office for Fighting Organized Crime", the following can be listed: Francesco Ciardi, Project Leader from the Ministry of Justice; Sandra Gatti, Director of Exportation Office of Rome of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities; Gianpietro Romano from the Comando Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage; Saveria Spezzano, Head of International Activities Office of Formez.
On the Bulgarian part, the representatives who took part were Galina Toneva and Kamen Sitnilski, Deputy General Prosecutors; Hristov Manchev, Deputy General Prosecutor and Project Leader; Todor Chobanov, Vice Minister for Culture; Prosecutor Nikolaj Solarov, Project Manager. Moreover, His Excellency the Italian Ambassador Stefano Benazzo evoked that this project can be incorporated in a wider scenario of bilateral collaborations which Italy has promoted with Bulgaria.
After outlining the project objectives, the Italian partners formulated a series of recommendations, namely the classification of the already existing qualified Unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage as depending on one leadership with national competence under the Ministry of Culture; the implementation of a data bank for managing the information related to the existing cultural heritage and stolen art works; the creation of a national computerized catalogue of cultural goods; the creation of a list of experts who are able to collaborate with the Prosecutor’s Office for carrying out surveys on cultural goods; amendments to the recent reform legislation on cultural goods.
The points which emerged from the discussion regards the need to create a national pool of Examining Judges with capacities of guide-line and with operational and investigation powers; to allow Prosecutor’s Office to manage data archives which are autonomous from the Italian Police’s; to create a pool of experts at national level who may provide opinions and advice on how to face criminal trials; to establish a centralized and autonomous investigating pool exercising the powers of the Investigating Police; to conduct training activities for the experts from the Ministry of Culture and the prosecutors also through Structural Funds resources.
The Bulgarian speakers expressed great appreciation for the high quality of the work which has been carried out by the Italian experts. The Vice Ministry of Culture emphasized the need to pursue the bilateral collaboration with Italy in this specific area.