A report regarding the estimate of the worth of artwork owned by the banks will be ready before the refinancing of the banks will be completed, according to Minister of Education, Katrín Jakobsdóttir. Mbl.is reports this today.
Minister of Education, Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
The estimation has yet to be completed, but presently, very large art collections are owned by the banks. Now, an evaluation is being undertaken, for example, determining which works are national treasures, before the banks will again be deregulated.
The estimate is executed by two experts from the National Art Museum, Halldór Björn Runólfsson and Eiríkur Thorláksson. Decisions will be made regarding whether and how the State will purchase and preserve the most important artwork.
The banks New Kaupthing, Íslandsbanki and New Landsbanki collectively own around 4,000 works of art. A Left Green Parliament Member Álfheidur Ingadóttir filed a request regarding the matter at Althingi yesterday and pointed out that many of the pieces had followed the banks as they were privatized in the year 2002. They then were reacquired by the government as the banks collapsed last fall.
