UniCredit Bank plans to sell its art collection to finance social projects

UniCredit, an Italian bank, has announced plans to sell its art collection, one of the world's largest corporate collections, and channel the proceeds to finance social projects in different parts of Europe.

The initiative comes from Jean Pierre Moustier, Chairman of the Board, who has sold a private jet owned by the bank and is moving around Italy in a democratic Fiat 500.

The UniCredit collection includes 60 thousand works of art, among them - the works of Giorgio De Chirico, Gustav Klimt, Fernand Leger and Gerhard Richter, which are exhibited in the bank's divisions in Italy, Germany and Austria. A bank spokeswoman said that the question of how much and which particular works will be sold has not yet been resolved, but sales should begin as early as this year. At the first stage, it is planned to earn at least € 50 million. The intention to sell the collection arose after UniCredit expanded its Social Impact Banking social initiative, which previously covered only Italy, to other European countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania and Croatia Supporting education and gender equality, as well as creating new jobs are among the main tasks of the bank, which last year approved the allocation of € 73 million for financial assistance to social entrepreneurs and start-ups in Italy.

The representative of the bank said that a number of works of art will be donated to local museums, "and part of the proceeds will be directed to other significant projects, including support for young artists in the regions."