Ukraine will send compensation to the Pierson Allard Museum in the Netherlands for storing the Scythian gold collection after the court ruling in favor of Ukraine taking effect, Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said.
“The court awarded the local museum a compensation for storing this collection. There was the ruling of the court of lower instance that could be challenged by the defender. As soon as the ruling takes effect I can officially confirm that the Ukrainian government would provide funds from our resources from the reserve fund, or the budget of the Culture Ministry to pay expenses for storing and transportation of these artifacts to Ukraine,” the minister said at a briefing in Kyiv on Feb. 9.
As reported, four Crimean museums in February 2014 sent a 2,000-item collection to Bonn and later to Amsterdam, to the Allard Pierson Museum, including over 500 Scythian gold artifacts. The exposition also contained items from a Kyiv museum.
Since the Netherlands refused to recognize Crimea’s reunification with Russia, the question arose of whom the collection should be returned to after the closure of the exhibition in August 2014.
In September 2014, the Russian Culture Ministry said that the items from the Kyiv museum had been returned to Ukraine, those from the Crimean ones remained in the Netherlands.
The Allard Pierson Museum said it will send the exhibits where a court orders it to in order to avoid future claims from either side. In December Ukraine asked Interpol to place the Scythian gold on its wanted list, Kyiv’s Pechersky district court issued an in absentia order to seize the exhibits.
On Dec. 14 a district court in Amsterdam ruled in Ukraine’s favor.
