La Rochepot (France) (AFP)
"Do not touch my castle": a postcard village of wine-growing Burgundy is mobilizing to save its 12th century neo-Gothic fortress, fearing it will be closed to the public after an incredible money laundering affair in Ukraine.
"No to dismantling the castle";
"La Rochepot mobilized against the sale";
"Don't touch my castle" ... On old sheets or faded cardboard boxes, the slogans greet visitors who cross the drawbridge of the magnificent structure with glazed tiles in La Rochepot (Côte-d'Or).
Closed for three years following the arrest for money laundering of its alleged owner, the castle perched on a rocky peak has reopened briefly to present its furniture which will be auctioned on Sunday in Beaune: from armor to copper cauldrons , through the Baccarat service.
The castle of La Rochepot, in Côte-d'Or, October 8, 2021 JEFF PACHOUD AFP
For the village, this dispersion condemns a site that has welcomed more than 20,000 visitors per year, a windfall for the 300 or so inhabitants.
"All my clients are there to visit the castle", summarizes Véronique Fouquerand, winegrower and owner of guest rooms in the village.
"It's a disaster".
"La Rochepot emptied of its entrails will no longer be La Rochepot", laments Romuald Pouleau, former keeper of the castle and initiator of a petition which has collected nearly 3,000 signatures.
According to him, the village is the "collateral damage" of an affair which exceeds it.
In 2015, the inhabitants heave a sigh of relief when "their" castle finally finds a buyer after having been on sale for three years.
Its owner, the heiress of ex-president Sadi Carnot, had set as a condition for the sale the "total respect" of the place.
Near the castle of La Rochepot, in Côte-d'Or, a resident posted a sign in defense of local heritage, October 8, 2021 JEFF PACHOUD AFP
However, this is precisely what the investors who buy the castle say for 3 million euros say they want.
"Everyone believed in it", remembers Romuald Pouleau.
"They had a wonderful project. And they said that money was not a problem," he told AFP.
- Resurrected deceased -
But the owners remain shrouded in mystery: the castle is managed by a Ukrainian resident in Lithuania and a Moldovan who acts for a company in Luxembourg.
In the village, a Ukrainian sometimes appears who speaks of "his" castle but prefers to be called "Monsieur" rather than giving his name.
In December 2017, the local daily Le Bien Public revealed that, in fact, the craftsmen hired for the "magnificent project" had never been paid.
A person looks at furniture at the castle of La Rochepot, in Côte-d'Or, October 8, 2021 JEFF PACHOUD AFP
Alerted, Europol discovers that this "Monsieur" is a "high-flying fugitive" who passed himself off as dead in 2014 to "escape justice" in his country.
The resuscitated deceased, Dmitri Malinovsky, defrauded "more than 12 million euros", according to the Kiev prosecutor's office.
On October 5, 2018, the gendarmes arrested him in "his" castle.
Since then, he has been in prison in Nancy, where we will know "in the coming months" if a trial takes place, probably "in the first half of 2022," Vincent Legaut, vice-prosecutor in Nancy, told AFP.
The Ukrainian does not wish to comment, according to his lawyer, Benoît Diry.
In the meantime, the castle remains closed and its furniture sold.
"It's a great loss," said Mayor Véronique Richer.
"This irremediable mutilation perhaps seals the reorientation towards a future residential use", warns Siegfried Boulard-Gervaise, specializing in the rehabilitation of castles and who had already expressed his interest in La Rochepot.
Visitors look on October 8, 2021 at furniture from the castle of La Rochepot, in Côte-d'Or, which is to be auctioned JEFF PACHOUD AFP
The mayor requested, in vain, the postponement of the sale, an approach supported by Alain Suguenot, LR president of the Agglomeration Community, and the local deputy LREM Didier Paris: "the sale seems to me, if not to deal a fatal blow, at least remove part of the attraction of the castle ", he judges.
But "the case is in the hands of justice," recalls François Sauvadet, UDI president of the department.
The inhabitants of the village received the surprise support of Olga Kiselova, ex-companion of Dmitri Malinovsky also indicted.
The sale of furniture is "a big mistake (which will) destroy the potential of this place," she told AFP.
A visitor looks on October 8, 2021 at furniture from the castle of La Rochepot, in Côte-d'Or, which is to be auctioned JEFF PACHOUD AFP
Ms. Kiselova is the real owner of the premises, according to her lawyers, Sinem Paksut and Stéphane Bonifassi.
Dmitri Malinovsky was only "in charge of the management of the property".
"And this mismanagement gave rise to the compulsory liquidation which is now worth the transfer of the furniture", maintains Me Paksut.
© 2021 AFP