THE ST. JOSEPH CATHEDRAL SCANDAL The High Court rejected the request for changing the venue of the trial submitted by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese

Millennium Building Development", the developer of "Cathedral Plaza", the 19-floor building erected near the St. Joseph Cathedral in Bucharest, yesterday announced that the High Court of Cassation and Justice rejected the request of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese (the owner of the cathedral), for changing the venue of the lawsuit. In a press release sent to our editors, officials of "Millenium" said: "It bears reminding that on June 25th 2009, the Ploie ti Court of Appeal, after thoroughly reviewing the applicable laws and taking into consideration the rights of both parties, issued a definitive and irrevocable ruling following the appeal filed by the Mayoralty of District 1 of Bucharest and Millennium Building Development. Thus, the court validated the building permit awarded for the project of , located near the St. Joseph Cathedral. The Roman Catholic Arch Diocese subsequently challenged the definitive and irrevocable court ruling and submitted a new request on July 13th 2009, asking for the changing of the venue of the trial, a request which has no merit whatsoever".

"Millenium" alleges that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese only wants to keep the public wondering about the legality of the "Cathedral Plaza" project.

Officials of "Millenium" also say that since the beginning of the project, the company has always been in compliance with the law, and dutifully followed all the stages required for securing the permits needed for the construction of "Cathedral Plaza", which includes getting in touch with officials of the Archdiocese. According to the quoted source, the Archdiocese had initially agreed to the project, which was also acknowledged by a final and irrevocable court ruling.