Ukrainian Scythian gold in Spain: smuggling, court, arrests and the struggle for heritage

15 July 16:36

ANALYSIS FROM

Recently, Kyiv customs officers prevented an attempt to smuggle archaeological treasures dating from the first to the twelfth century disguised as ordinary jewelry. They seized 16 beads, typical of the products of the ancient and Chernyakhiv cultures of the Ancient Rus, which the dealers tried to send by mail to Germany. Such items are cultural heritage. They are forbidden to be exported from Ukraine. At the same time, a significant amount of cultural property brought by smugglers has already accumulated abroad. For a year and a half, Ukraine has been unable to return unique items from the “Scythian collection” taken to Spain, which they are trying to sell there. About this edition [Kommersant] was informed by the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, which is dealing with this case.

In October 2023, Spanish law enforcement officers seized Scythian gold worth 60 million euros, which two Ukrainian citizens and three Spanish citizens were trying to sell in Madrid. The dealers were caught after they sold a gold belt with rams’ heads at a private auction in 2021. It was then that it became known that the detainees had illegally exported a significant amount of “Scythian gold” from Ukraine in 2014-2020. As experts have established, these objects belong to the cultural and material values of the period of existence of the state of “Minor Scythia”, which was located within the modern territory of Ukraine and, in accordance with internationally recognized borders, is the property of Ukraine.

Law enforcement officers found out that clergymen of the UOC-MP, appraisers, notaries and intermediaries were involved in the smuggling of cultural property. The cultural property has now been seized, and the members of the international criminal group are under investigation.

As reported by [Kommersant] the BES reported that after examining the artifacts by specialists using special equipment, they found that the items were made of precious metals that morphologically correspond to ancient products of the fourth century BC and the second century AD. More detailed information will become available after the forensic examination, which will also confirm that these items belong to the cultural heritage of Ukraine.

These items are likely the work of “black archaeologists.” Therefore, the artifacts were not registered in accordance with Ukrainian law in the registers. Currently, all the facts are being established in the framework of the pre-trial investigation,” said the BES detectives.

“It is already known that the detainees, who were arrested in 2014-2020, smuggled a significant number of Scythian gold items out of Ukraine, avoiding customs control. The BES does not say how they were taken out and where they were hidden, but emphasizes that no one else is involved in the case except for two Ukrainians and three Spanish citizens.

“It is now possible that there were more of these valuables, so measures are being taken to identify other items as part of the pre-trial investigation,” the BES said.

“And if at first only 11 antiquities were found, now three more have been found. In total, we have 14 artifacts, including a medallion, gold earrings, a pendant, chokers, a pectoral, and more.

The procedure for returning to Ukraine will take some time, the detectives noted.

These items can be returned only by a decision of the relevant court of the Kingdom of Spain, so they are currently taking actions within the framework of international legal assistance with the relevant authorities in Spain to return Ukrainian cultural property. Also, the BES, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture and the State Border Guard Service, are working on legal possibilities for the recovery of these objects in favor of Ukraine in court,” the BES emphasized.

The controversial “Scythian Gold” took 10 years to return

We remind you that the procedure for returning cultural property can take a long time. First of all, it is necessary to wait for a court decision (in this case, the Spanish one).

The return of the Scythian Gold collection from Crimean museums worth $1.5 million from the Netherlands took almost 10 years. It was only in November 2023, after numerous lawsuits with the Russian Federation, that the valuables were handed over to the Ukrainian side.

It was a collection of 565 antiquities that were taken from Crimea to the EU in 2013 to be exhibited in private European museums. According to the agreements, the entire ancient collection was to be returned to Ukraine in the summer of 2014. But this did not happen, and the artifacts remained abroad. In the same year, criminal proceedings were initiated on the facts of the illegal stay of cultural property outside Ukraine. During the investigation, experts from the relevant authorities developed materials that allowed the Supreme Court of the Netherlands to make a final decision in favor of Ukraine. The collection was returned even without charging for the storage of museum exhibits.

Author – Alla Dunina

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Мандровська Олександра

Editor