Update: Bucharest District 6 mayor Gabriel Mutu said late last week that he had ordered the cancellation of the contract, local Mediafax reported.

A photo of six giant Easter bunnies being transported on the streets of Bucharest went viral on social media earlier this week, sparking ironic messages to general mayor Gabriela Firea. However, the journalists at local publication Recorder found that the giant golden rabbits were actually rented by the local authorities of the capital’s District 6, for a big sum.

The District 6 School Administration rented the six Eastern bunnies, paying RON 12,000 (over EUR 2,500) for each of them. Thus, in total, they paid almost EUR 15,500 to rent six giant Easter bunnies for two months, which will be placed at six kindergartens in the District 6.

The Recorder journalists also reported that the giant bunnies were not the only decorations rented by the District 6 School Administration. They also rented six gift boxes with ribbons, for which they paid over EUR 3,500, and six egg-shaped figurines that cost a total of over EUR 5,200.

Thus, the Easter decorations for the six kindergartens cost the local authorities of District 6 a total of almost EUR 25,000. The District 6 mayor Gabriel Mutu, who is also the direct head of the District 6 School Administration, told Recorder that he knows nothing about this situation. The journalists managed to contact the head of the School Administration’s acquisitions department, who confirmed that they rented the giant rabbits but couldn’t say how they got to contract a company that asked them EUR 2,500 for two months of rent.

They haven’t managed, however, to contact representatives of the company who provided the Easter decorations. The firm is called Next Level Project Construct SRL and was established in January 2017. In the past year, it had several contracts with District 6 institutions. For example, in December it received RON 50,000 to decorate with Christmas lights the District 6 City Hall headquarters.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(opening photo: Facebook / Maria Munteanu)