Ukraine is doing everything possible to delay the return to the Netherlands of paintings that were stolen in 2005 from the natural surroundings of the Museum in Hoorn, the newspaper De Telegraaf.
“The Ukrainian authorities unexpectedly demanded the documents proving the identity of the paintings”, – TASS quoted the edition.
“We received the request on legal assistance through the Prosecutor’s office, and we had to very carefully check out all of our archives, because some of the paintings were donated to us when the Museum opened in 1872, – said the official representative of the store Krista van Heath. – We gave all that they found: account acquisition, account restoration, restoration reports and annual reports. Many of these documents were issued over 150 years ago.” Now they have to be sent to Kiev by the Dutch Prosecutor’s office.
“However, this will not end, – says the publication. – The Ukrainian authorities will pass on these documents to explore their specialists, and it may take months.” Because of this, scheduled for September in Hoorn events to celebrate the return of works of art has been postponed indefinitely.
According to the newspaper, five of the paintings in question are the largest and most valuable objects from the number 24 of the stolen artworks and 70 objects made of silver, their total value is around EUR 10 million. The search for the other 19 paintings and jewelry continues.
“Everything points to the fact that it is an act of retaliation for the conflict between the Netherlands, Ukraine and Russia for another collection,” – emphasizes the newspaper, specifying that we are talking about the so-called Scythian gold.
This collection is composed partially of exhibits Crimean museums, are exhibited in the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, when in the spring of 2014 was the reunion of the Crimea with Russia, the newspaper reports.
Their rights on the objects stated as the museums of the Crimea and the Ukrainian authorities, therefore it was decided not to give out objects as long as the parties do not reach agreement or a dispute is not resolved on legal grounds. Hearing on the case is scheduled for October 5th.
Recall that in mid-April, the Minister of foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin said that the Ukrainian police have found part of the stolen in 2005 from the Museum of Dutch paintings.
Meanwhile, on December 8 last year, it was reported that stolen in 2005 in the Netherlands paintings found in one of the villas in the Donetsk region, Dutch media have linked the story of the theft of paintings with the leader of the party “Freedom” Oleg Tyagnibok and former head of the SBU Valentin Nalyvaychenko.
Before that, media in the Netherlands issued a statement that the collection of 24 paintings by Dutch artists of the seventeenth century, worth about 10 million euros, stolen from the Museum of the city of Hoorn in 2005, is in the hands of the extreme right corrupt people in the upper echelons of the Ukrainian authorities.”
Dutch publication NOS, with reference to the representative of the westfries Museum Arthur brand, who conducted the investigation, says that this story mentions two names of the party leader “Freedom” Oleg Tyahnybok and former head of the SBU Valentin Nalyvaychenko.
