The OAK furniture factory is located in the small town of Cantu, near Lake Como, in Italy. In it, says the company’s CEO, Renato Pologna, was built, in 1995, the famous white table used in recent days by Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation in Ukraine with leaders of other countries.
The mobile, which became the butt of a joke and went viral on social media, was the solution found by the Russian head of state to maintain social distance from leaders who refused to undergo Covid-19 tests by Russian professionals before meeting him. , as was the case with French President Emmanuel Macron 11 days ago. The scene inspired several netizens, who used the image to create different montages on Twitter.
The famous six-meter-long white lacquered piece of furniture, decorated with gold leaf, was custom-made in 1995 and delivered to the Kremlin, says the Italian businessman. “The table was part of one of the biggest orders we’ve ever had,” he declared.
The furniture was paid in lira, he says. Today, the price would correspond to around 100 thousand euros (R$ 580 thousand). The order from the Russian government, which at the time had Boris Yeltsin in charge, amounted to 20 million euros.
“A table is a place where we eat, have fun and play, but where we also decide wars or sign armistices. We hope it brings luck and does not lead to war,” the furniture factory’s CEO told AFP news agency.
As the company was not the first to claim authorship of the furniture’s design, the Italian businessman insisted on gathering and showing evidence: a photo of the table placed in a book about the Kremlin, from 1999, a certificate signed on November 22 by the then president, and the detailed design of the table, before manufacture.
Spanish also claims
“I’m sure of what I’m saying”, says Pologna, when asked about the statements of another Spanish manufacturer, Vicente Zaragoza, who claims to be the creator of the famous furniture, in 2005. “I imagine that, in Spain, they may have made a replica , but I cannot say”, declared the Italian businessman, trying to avoid controversy.
In addition to French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also refused to take a test against Covid-19 and sat at the long table. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was recently in Russia, can talk to Putin a little more closely, as he did not refuse to take the test.
According to the Italian businessman, his factory furnished two floors of an area of about 7000 m² in the Kremlin. “Abroad, the quality of Italian design and craftsmanship is known,” he said.
The success of the table, which became a cult object, inspired the Pologna family. “Producing new parts can be a good idea,” he says. Among the brand’s clients are Middle Eastern royal families and dictators such as former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi or Iraqi Saddam Hussein.
