Court Allows Poroshenko To Sell Previously Arrested Collection Of Paintings

The Kyiv Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv, which seized a collection of paintings of former President Petro Poroshenko, forbidding him to use and dispose of the said property, including alienating it.

This is stated in the materials of the court, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

As seen from the court materials, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) continues to investigate the case, which investigates the circumstances of movement across the customs border of Ukraine with concealment from customs control of a collection of 43 paintings by world famous artists.

The case is being investigated under Articles 201, Part 3 of Article 212, Part 3 of Article 358, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code.

Poroshenko's defense in court stated that this case was not under investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, since, according to the Criminal Procedure Code, the pre-trial investigation under Article 209 of the Criminal Code is implemented by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NACB).

On December 20, 2021, the Kyiv Court of Appeal declared inadmissible the evidence of the SBI, collected as a result of an urgent search conducted on May 26, 2020 in the non-residential premises of the Ivan Honchar Museum National Center of Folk Culture, therefore, the arrest of property, namely 42 paintings by world famous artists and one lithographs, belonging to Poroshenko, which were discovered during the said search, cannot be imposed in order to ensure the safety of this property as material evidence in criminal proceedings.

Since there was no legal basis for the seizure of 42 paintings by world famous artists and one lithographs, the judge imposed the seizure on the said property without any grounds.

Thus, by a court decision, Poroshenko has the right to use and dispose of the collection of paintings, including alienating it.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in 2020, the court re-seized the collection of Poroshenko's paintings in the Honchar Museum.

The State Bureau of Investigations did not withdraw paintings from the collection of the ex-president from the Honchar Museum.

The SBI is investigating a case in which the circumstances of movement across the customs border of Ukraine of a collection of 43 paintings by world famous artists concealing from customs control are being investigated.