Scythian gold: Ukrainian treasures go home

District court of Amsterdam denied to return the Scythian gold to Crimea. Russia gets ready to appeal the decision, Ukraine Today informs.

565 ancient artifacts from 4 Ukrainian museums in Crimea and one museum in Kyiv were taken for an exhibition to Netherlands from Ukrainian Crimea in 2014. Among them are golden Scythian jewelry, gems, and swords. However, the Dutch party returned only those, which were loaned from the museum in Kyiv. Those from Crimean are still in the Netherlands. And here, yet another party: the administration of the occupied peninsula demands to return it - actually, to Russia. Netherlands cannot decide on who the relics belong to, as the international legislation does not have such precedents.

Kyiv says - the treasures belong to a state, not a specific museum. Ukrainian court already said the exhibited items must be returned to Kyiv. The court in Ukraine has requested that Interpol should place the gold on the international wanted list. 

Ukrainian lawyers say the return of the collection to Ukraine was guaranteed not only by the terms of the contract, signed by Ukraine's National History Museum and Allard Pierson Museum but also by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Allard Pierson Museum said in a statement it had decided  not to make a decision as to which of the parties the disputed objects should be handed over to:

'The Allard Pierson Museum will abide by a ruling by a qualified judge or arbitrator, or further agreement between parties. The disputed objects will be safely stored until more becomes clear.'