ARMA will donate about 150 paintings by Medvedchuk to the museum

The Agency for Search and Asset Management received expert opinions on the seized paintings, belonging to former People’s Deputy Viktor Medvedchuk, who is suspected of high treason. The head of ARMA, Elena Duma, announced this on Telegram on Monday, September 2.

Of the 284 paintings, 148 have cultural value and will be transferred to the National Art Museum of Ukraine. The remaining 136 paintings have no significant cultural value and will be sold through Prozorro.Sales.

The Duma noted that previously the agency did not have a legislative mechanism that would allow the transfer of confiscated property and cultural property to national museums. This legislative mechanism could be done this week. We are talking about bill No. 11280-1 on the details of the management of cultural property and other properties.

In October 2022, law enforcement officers seized 316 art objects, most of them paintings, from Medvedchuk’s mansion in Pushcha-Voditsa. In particular, these are the works of Ivan Aivazovsky, Vladimir Orlovsky, Sergei Vasilkovsky, Joseph Bokshay, Konstantin Korovin, Konstantin Kryzhitsky.

At first, ARMA wanted to sell all the paintings from the confiscated Medvedchuk collection, but the Ministry of Culture opposed this idea, insisting that some of the paintings should be in the museum.

Subsequently, experts from the National Art Museum of Ukraine indicated that 112 paintings have historical and cultural value.

We remind you that earlier a collection of watches of the former Medvedchuk, worth UAH 10.6 million, was put up for online auctions in the Prozorro system.