The investments made in Romania’s future Redemption Cathedral until the pre-finishing stage, amount to some EUR 80 million, according to the Patriarchy.

In this stage, actual construction work will be finished, the doors and windows installed, but the building not yet plastered.

“Initially, the cost of work until the pre-finishings stage, which means the building is not plastered, but has windows and doors, was estimated at EUR 100 million. After the calculations were reviewed, costs decreased by EUR 20 million. Thus, we estimate that the final amount will be EUR 80 million,” father Constatin Stoica, the spokesman of the Patriarchy told local Mediafax.

Around EUR 25 million was spent on infrastructure work and site preparation, he added. Half of the amount came from state authorities, while the rest came from donations of citizens in Romania and abroad.

The construction of the future cathedral located in Bucharest is expected to be completed in 2016, and is now 15 percent done, according to the project's website.

In the three years since the construction of the cathedral started, the Patriarchy paid some EUR 9 million in taxes to the state budget.

Romania’s future Redemption Cathedral is built with money from donations and with financial support from the state budget.

The cathedral is located next to the iconic building the People's Palace (in picture, in the background), the second largest administrative building in the world, after the Pentagon.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com