The Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld the decision of the previous court in the case on the fate of the “Scythian gold” from the collection of museums of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and decided to transfer it to Ukraine, follows from the message on the website of the court.
“In October 2021, the Court of Appeal ruled that the collection should be transferred to Ukraine. This decision remains in force. That’s what the Supreme Court ruled today,” the message says.
As reported, the exhibition “Crimea. Golden Island in the Black Sea”, representing the collection of Scythian gold jewelry, was formed in the Allard Pearson Museum from the collections of five museums, one of which is located in Kiev, four – in Crimea. After the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, which occurred after the opening of the exhibition, the question arose as to whom to return the collection – 565 museum items with a total insured value of EUR 10 million.
After the occupation, the Russian Federation claimed its rights to the part of the collection belonging to the Crimean museums. Ukraine, in turn, said that the exhibits cannot be returned to the occupied territory, which is temporarily not under Ukrainian control, and must be transferred directly to the state of Ukraine.
In December 2016, the District Administrative Court of Amsterdam recognized Ukraine’s rights to the collection and ordered it transferred to Kiev. In October 2021, the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam confirmed the decision of the court of first instance. After that, in January 2022, “Crimean museums” filed a cassation against the decision of the Court of Appeal.
