San Marino — Good audience participation, Tuesday evening, at the Montelupo hall in Domagnano, for the presentation of «The Bulgarian Affair», the book by Antonio Fabbri and Carlo Filippini which reconstructs two years of news on the scandal linked to the attempted acquisition of the majority of Banca di San Marino by the Bulgarian investor Assen Christov. Dialogue with the authors was journalist Sara Bucci, who guided the evening through questions and solicitations to the audience present.
During the meeting Filippini retraced the genesis of the project, born about two years ago, when the publisher learned of the attempted purchase of the San Marino bank by a foreign group. «The fact intrigued me», he said, explaining the days spent collecting and verifying the information, before deciding to publish it in the San Marino newspaper L’Informazione. Filippini wanted to underline the role of the co-author: «The greatest credit goes to Antonio, who in recent years has shouldered the largest part of the work. The credit for the genesis goes to me, the continuation goes to him.” It was then the growing interest of readers, from article to article, that suggested to the authors to collect the material gradually published in a single volume, with the declared aim of offering a non-biased reconstruction of the entire story.
One of the main challenges, the authors explained, was to condense two years of complex news into a story written in simple language and in chronological order, accessible even to those who had not followed the story day by day. There was no shortage of references to the difficulties encountered during the investigative work, including pressure and threats received by the authors.
When asked about the function that the book can have for the San Marino community, Filippini indicated three plans: to give citizens an overall picture of a story that has been fragmented for months; preserve the memory of an affair that affected the credibility of the country’s banking system and held the Association Agreement between San Marino and the European Union hostage for months; and offer a useful tool, in particular, to San Marino account holders of any bank, in light of the previous financial crashes that have affected various credit institutions in the area. “If this book helps the San Marino people to be a little more aware and a little more vigilant, we will have done something useful”, said the publisher, reiterating that the book does not intend to replace the courts, before which the criminal proceedings on the matter are still ongoing.
The evening ended with questions from the audience to the authors.
«The Bulgarian Affair» will be available from Monday 5 October on newsstands and bookshops in San Marino, as well as online.
Photo: Francesco Filippini
