Spanish and Italian furniture makers argue over who made the table for Putin's residence

The incredibly long white table, images of which appeared in the media around the world after Vladimir Putin's meeting with Emmanuel Macron, has become a kind of symbol of international tension. And now he has also aggravated relations between two furniture manufacturers from Europe, according to The Guardian.

The owners of the Spanish company Zaragozá and the Italian company Oak call the Kremlin table a creation of their own hands with the same fervor. The head of the company of the same name from Valencia, Vicente Zaragoza, said in an interview with Spanish radio that the work belongs to him. As soon as the photo appeared in the press, Zaragoza says, he began to carefully examine the table: "I pay attention to the smallest defects, it helps to improve." According to the Spaniard, the table is made of Alpine white beech inlaid with gold leaf.

The Zaragozá company ceased operations in 2020, but in 2002-2006, Spanish furniture makers completed numerous orders for the manufacture of furniture for the Kremlin and the former Soviet republics, including a kitchen for the dining room of the President of Uzbekistan. Giving an interview, Zaragoza burst into tears: "We made the tables bigger and prettier, but when I saw this photo, I felt proud that I, a Spaniard and a Valencian, did something worthwhile".

In turn, Renato Polonya, owner of the Oak family furniture business in the Como region, is sure that his company made the table. “Honestly, I don't know what to say, because I did this work in 1995-96, and photos of the table are even published in books, mostly in Russian, released in 2000”, - says Polonya. This person I don't know says he made the table in 2005, but that can't be true. As proof, we have all the certificates for the work done and even the gratitude of the president - he was then Boris Yeltsin. Maybe the Spanish guy made a copy that went somewhere else, who knows. After all, this is a table, not a plane. He may have made a copy".