Romania’s National Communications Authority (ANCOM) has decided not to allocate any sum in next year’s budget for purchasing the Telephone Palace, a historic building in Bucharest.

The Telephone Palace is an imposing art-deco building constructed in the ‘30s in downtown Bucharest, the city’s first tall building. It is owned by Telekom Romania, which is part of Deutsche Telekom group.

ANCOM argued that the property’s owners had not submitted an official position on its sale, reports local Profit.ro.

The building was registered on the 2010 list of historic monuments. ANCOM planned to buy the building to move its headquarters there. The institution allocated RON 70 million (EUR 15.5 million) in 2015 and 2016 to acquire the Telephone Palace, located on the Victoriei Avenue.

In September 2014, Telekom Romania Communications, the former Romtelecom, announced that it had put up for sale the Telephone Palace and other two adjoining office buildings at a starting price of EUR 21.6 million without VAT. In March 2015, Nikolai Beckers, the head of Telekom Romania, said that the sale of the Telephone Palace was not a priority for the group.

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(photo source: Wikipedia)