The authorities of the Italian city of Vicenza lost their chances of receiving EUR 10 million from the national reconstruction plan because they were 32 seconds late in sending the application for funding. The administrative court agreed with the Ministry of Agriculture and the national agency for investment and enterprise development, which did not accept the application, the local daily “Corriere del Veneto” reported.
“Minute zero of a given hour strikes 59 minutes at the last second,” the judges said, justifying their decision to reject the application as justified.
They lost their chance to make millions
The administrative court thus rejected the appeal filed by the city management. He applied for funds from the Italian reconstruction plan for the renovation and reconstruction of fruit and vegetable markets.
The required documentation had to be submitted by 12 noon on November 30 last year. The city management was 32 seconds late.
Court battle
When the application was rejected, a court battle for seconds began. The magistrate argued that Ministry of Agriculture and the agency operating at the Ministry of Finance provided only the hour and minute of the application submission deadline, but not the seconds. However, the court did not accept this argument. The Vicenza authorities announced they would appeal against this ruling.
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