Ukraine elected to Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting Return of Cultural Property

"Yesterday, during the 41st meeting of the UNESCO General Conference, which is taking place at the organization's headquarters in Paris, Ukraine was elected to the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation," the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine posted on Facebook.

Ukraine's active participation in the work of the Committee will contribute to greater involvement in the implementation of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, the Ministry noted.

As reported, on October 26, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled to return the Scythian gold collection to the territory of Ukraine.

On December 14, 2016, the Amsterdam District Court ruled that the exhibits of the Crimean museums had to be returned to Ukraine. The judgment was delivered pursuant to the UNESCO convention, according to which the art treasures should be returned to a sovereign state, which provided them for a temporary exhibition.

On March 28, 2017, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal received an appeal against the ruling from the representatives of Crimean museums.

The collection of Scythian gold had been delivered to the Allard Pearson Museum in Amsterdam as part of the exhibition entitled “Crimea – the Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea” prior to the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

Currently, the Scythian gold collection is kept in the Allard Pearson Museum in Amsterdam.

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