The presence of BYD during the Pope’s visit to San Marino had nothing to do with the institutional organisation of the event, but stemmed from a sponsorship agreement handled independently by San Marino RTV. That is what Secretary of State Luca Beccari clarified today before the Foreign Affairs Committee, outlining the two separate levels of the machinery put in place for the day.
The organisation of the visit was coordinated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and a committee made up of representatives from the various services and offices involved. For this part, Beccari explained, only public resources were used, and no private sponsors were involved.
The situation was different when it came to BYD. The brand’s presence, he said, resulted from a choice made directly by San Marino RTV, which secured its own sponsorships to cover the costs of the television production. According to the Secretary, neither the Government, nor the Foreign Affairs Secretariat, nor the organising committee had any part in that arrangement.
The sponsorship is linked to the costs borne by the broadcaster for filming and broadcasting the visit live, as well as for the subsequent production of a documentary or other television project dedicated to the day. Beccari thus drew a clear line between the organisation of the visit — which remained entirely in the hands of the institutions and was funded by the State — and the television production, which was instead managed independently by RTV.
