The "Platar" private museum, the collection of which belongs to businessman and politician Serhiy Taruta, confirmed to "Babel" that exhibits from its Chinese collection were detained by SBU and customs while trying to take them abroad.
On June 20, "Babel" reported on this with references to five of its own sources in museum circles of Ukraine and SBU. According to their information, the collection was exported without proper documents, with an examination confirming that the exhibits are not cultural values. "Babel" asked Tarutaʼs press secretary for a comment, but the businessman did not respond. Instead, the "Platar" museum sent an official letter to the editor.
The museum reported that they were taking the exhibits to Prague to organize and hold an exhibition of antiques of Chinese culture there. The exhibition was to take place in the private "Gema" gallery ("Galerie Gema" s.r.o.). The items were taken out, as the museumʼs letter says, "at the request of our partners — a private company that has been cooperating with the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the humanitarian direction since the beginning of the full-scale invasion." The museum did not name the company, nor did it specify when the exhibition was supposed to take place.
The museum assures that it has issued all the necessary documents to take the exhibits abroad. In particular, the state examination required for this was conducted by the Borys Voznytsky Lviv National Art Gallery. They recognized that the exhibits are not cultural values. And this means that it is not necessary to obtain permission for their export from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. In addition, the museum claims that it has also submitted additional documents — an exhibition contract and an examination by the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the swords from the collection are not cold weapons and can be exported abroad.
According to the museum, at the request of the Security Service of Ukraine, a new examination of the exhibits has already been conducted — "Platar" has not disclosed its results.
"We are concerned that the situation has developed in such a way that we are forced to explain it to our partners and the mass media," says the museumʼs letter.
"Platar" also claims that it exported to the Czech Republic exhibits from the Chinese collection, which in 1996 were exhibited in the National Reserve "Sophia Kyivska", in 1999 — in the National Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra", in 2005 — in Paris at the headquarters of apartment of UNESCO, in 2018 — in the Castle of the Pomeranian Princes in Poland in Szczecin, in 2019 — in the Forbidden City Gugun National Museum in Beijing.
The editors did not receive the complete list of exhibits that "Platar" wanted to take to Prague, which "Babel" asked to provide. We have repeated this request.
"Platar"
The collection of cultural monuments "Platar" is private. It was founded by entrepreneur Serhiy Platonov (died in 2005) and entrepreneur and politician Serhiy Taruta.
As indicated on the website of the private Museum of Historical Cultural Property "Platar", the collection includes more than ten thousand monuments from different regions and historical eras. Among them are monuments of the Tryplian culture, the Bronze Age, antiquity, the gold of the Scythians and Sarmatians, Kievan Rus and Byzantium, as well as other peoples and cultures of the world.
The Chinese part of the collection includes works by Chinese masters of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These are sabers, ritual daggers, objects of religious purpose, products made of silver, ivory, valuable wood, as well as a collection of exhibits that belonged to the Qing dynasty. In particular, the personal belongings of the last Chinese emperor, Pui. "Platar" has an exhibition catalog "Treasures of the Qing Dynasty".