Govt. could acquire tennis venue in central Bucharest

Romania’s Government could acquire the BNR Arenas tennis venue in central Bucharest, which the Bucharest City Hall would later manage, prime minister Mihai Tudose said yesterday. “I think that (Bucharest) mayor general Gabriela Firea will know how to value it. It is a pearl in the middle of Bucharest. It can be a renowned sporting base,” Tudose added, reports local Digi24. Romania’s National Bank (BNR), which currently owns the BNR Arenas tennis venue in central Bucharest, Eroilor area, has agreed to return it to Romania’s Youth and Sports Ministry for EUR 35 million. BNR took over the venue in 1991 for only USD 233,000. The BNR Arenas are currently not operational. “I understand that they were put up for sale with a EUR 30 million price, which made me feel like climbing the wall. It seems to me a crime. At least open them for children,” Tudose said. The arena, which hosted the BRD Bucharest Open and the Nastase-Tiriac Trophy in recent years, needs refurbishing and can’t be used for international competitions anymore. Ion Tiriac said he is willing to pay two times or even ten times the price asked by BNR to have the arena returned to the state’s property, if the state agreed to build an Olympic swimming pool and an Olympic skating rink on the premises. Conflict around tennis venue in central Bucharest editor@romania-insider.com