The monument of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin is put up for auction by Komarov authorities in the Beroun region.

The opening bid for the monument of the Soviet dictator is 20,000 CZK. The sandstone statue is currently placed in storage. Potential buyers have already shown interest in the purchase.

The monument was placed in Komarov’s náměstí Míru in 1951. After the revolution in 1989, the monument was dismantled and stored in a warehouse.

According to Deputy Mayor Radim Šíma, the current decision to sell Stalin’s monument is not connected with the statue of Marshal Konev in Prague 6, removed two weeks ago. “I would say that this is just an odd coincidence,” he said.

According to Šíma, the first proposal to buy the statue has already been received. Bids can be submitted until April 30. The minimum price is set at 20,000 CZK.

This is not the first time that a statue of a former Soviet leader in the Czech Republic has been put on sale.

In 2010, a bronze statue of Stalin was sold in Litoměřice for 172,000 CZK.

Last month, the German leftist party MLDP bought a two-meter statue of Lenin for an unrevealed amount.