The Supreme Court of the Netherlands decided to return the “Scythian gold” to Ukraine

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands confirmed the decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal in October 2021 regarding the "Scythian gold" — it must be handed over to Ukraine.

The court made the decision on June 9.

The court was able to decide that Ukraine has a legitimate interest in protecting its cultural heritage.

Museums of Crimea filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision of the Court of Appeal, but the Supreme Court rejected this appeal — the court proceedings ended. The Allard Pearson Museum in Amsterdam should hand over artistic values to the state of Ukraine, not to the museums of Crimea.

The case of "Scythian gold"

In 2014, more than two thousand exhibits were taken from the museums of Crimea to an exhibition in Amsterdam. After the occupation of Crimea, Russia and Ukraine argued about the ownership of the collection. The collection has more than two thousand exhibits with a total value of over one million euros. After the exhibition ended, 19 objects, including the legendary golden sword and shield, returned to the Museum of Historical Jewelry in Kyiv. The rest of the collection — 565 museum pieces and 2 111 storage units with a total value of nearly €1.5 million — has become the subject of controversy.

Kyiv emphasized at the court that according to Ukrainian legislation, all museum exhibits are owned by the state, and museums are only temporary administrators. On the side of Ukraine was the UNESCO convention from 1970, according to which every sovereign state has the right to export or not export, to prohibit alienation and to return from exhibitions any cultural values, if it considers such actions illegal.

• On December 14, 2016, the District Court of Amsterdam decided that the exhibits of the Crimean museums must be returned to Ukraine. The decision was made on the basis of the UNESCO convention.
• On March 28, 2017, the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam received an appeal from the occupying authorities of Crimea against this court decision. They believe that "Scythian gold" should be kept on the occupied peninsula. In October 2020, the Court of Appeals in Amsterdam granted Ukraineʼs request to remove the judge because of his ties to the lawyers of the Crimean museums, which may indicate bias during the case, and in October 2021 the Court of Appeals in Amsterdam decided to transfer the "Scythian gold" to Ukraine.