“The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine concluded an agreement with the Spanish law firm “Clifford Chance SLP” in the amount of 40,000 euros regarding the provision of legal services in the case of the return of Scythian gold illegally exported from Ukraine. Lawyers will prepare documents, conduct examinations and represent the interests of the state in the court of Madrid. This is reported by the Prozorro system. The purchase was carried out without bidding, which the law allows for”, — write on: ua.news
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine concluded an agreement with the Spanish law firm “Clifford Chance SLP” in the amount of 40,000 euros regarding the provision of legal services in the case of the return of Scythian gold illegally exported from Ukraine. Lawyers will prepare documents, conduct examinations and represent the interests of the state in the court of Madrid.
This is reported by the Prozorro system.
The procurement was carried out without bidding, which the law allows for services related to the protection of the rights and interests of Ukraine. The initiative of the Ministry of Culture regarding the return of Scythian gold was supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture, which is conducting criminal proceedings on the fact of the illegal transfer of cultural values abroad.
“In 2024, the Ministry of Culture asked to take claim-lawsuit measures regarding the return of 11 objects of material culture to Ukraine. He informed that the BEB is conducting criminal proceedings under the articles of attempted criminal offense, appropriation of property by abuse of official position, smuggling of cultural values, forgery of documents and legalization of criminally obtained property. It was started in July 2014 by the GUNP in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” the report says.
The subject of the pre-trial investigation are 11 items of material culture that have artistic, historical and scientific value and belong to the so-called Scythian gold.
“These are material values of the historical period of the existence of Small Scythia, which was located within the modern territory of Ukraine in accordance with internationally recognized borders. They were in Ukraine and were illegally moved abroad with concealment from customs control for further legalization and implementation in the EU. In 2023, the Shevchenko District Court of the city of Kyiv seized these gold objects, for which the Ministry of Culture has determined the place of storage,” the ministry said.
Criminal proceedings No. 2114/2016 against Ukrainians Vasyl Aksanyuk and Ivan Tarnavsky on suspicion of misappropriation and laundering of funds related to exported cultural values are being considered in Madrid Court No. 35. There is a risk that the court will make a decision without taking into account the position of Ukraine, so a legal adviser is needed.
The Ministry of Justice chose the Spanish firm “Clifford Chance SLP” to represent the state: submission of documents, participation in court procedures and conducting examinations on the authenticity of values. Lawyers’ rates – EUR 550/hour, expert evaluation services – EUR 12,500, presentation of the report – EUR 2,500.
On November 27, artifacts from four Crimean museums, which were presented at the exhibition “Crimea: Gold and Mysteries of the Black Sea”, were returned to Ukraine. For more than 10 years, the sights were outside the borders of Ukraine and became the object of another dispute between Ukraine and Russia.
On November 28, a presentation of individual artifacts from the collection “Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea” took place in Skrabnytsia on the territory of the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”.
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