To be on the safe side, Lamb asked the building’s administrators to turn off all the lights, something that was confirmed for Business Standard by the Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies, Gheorghe Barbu. “They insisted we turn off the lights in the parking lot,” said Barbu. The Palace of the Parliament, as it is now known, consumes an annual €1.8 million in electricity, and €1.5 mln for heating, “including parking,” and €35,000 for half a million cubic meters of cold water, according to data provided by the Chamber of Deputies. Most of these costs are shared by the institutions occupying the building.
According to Deutsche Bank, the building is presently worth €2 billion. How could it be put to best use: as a mega Ministry, as initially foreseen by Ceausescu, or a casino, which would permanently lift its totalitarian aura.
