Because of sanctions
Finland confiscates art shipment to Russia worth 42 million euros
Finnish customs confiscated art objects that were on their way to Russia
© Customs Finland
Customs in Finland have confiscated a shipment of art to Russia. They are said to be worth 42 million euros, but are subject to sanctions. Russia describes the action as illegal and should get the exhibits back soon.
Finnish customs have seized several shipments containing works of art that were to be shipped to Russia. He shared that Customs on Wednesday with The supplies were confiscated over the weekend. They were transported in trucks from Italy and Japan via Finland towards Russia and had previously been shown as loans at exhibitions.
“The European Union has imposed extensive sanctions on Russia and Belarus because of the Russian attack on Ukraine. One of the tasks of Finnish customs as an enforcement authority is to enforce the sanctions on goods agreed at EU level,” said customs. The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the EU sanctions list includes a paragraph on works of art. After the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the European Union issued a large number of sanctions against Russia.
Paintings and sculptures worth 42 million euros
Finnish customs have opened a preliminary investigation into the case. The investigations are ongoing both in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at customs. It is not yet known when the investigation will be completed.
“It is important that sanctions enforcement works effectively. Sanctions enforcement is part of our normal business operations and we always base our controls on risk. The shipments that are now under criminal investigation were discovered in the course of our usual work,” says Sami Rakshit, Director of the Finnish Customs Enforcement Department.
Like the Finnish radio yle reports that the paintings and sculptures are said to be worth 42 million euros. According to Rakshit, the artworks are part of the transportation of objects between museums in Russia and Europe and are temporarily stored in the capital region. He did not want to comment on which museums are affected.
Russia reclaims art objects from Finland
The Russian Magazine “Fontaka” reported that the confiscated items included works from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow that had been exhibited in Italy and Japan.
A day after the confiscation was announced, the Kremlin summoned the Finnish ambassador to discuss the case. “What happened can only be described as illegal,” quoted yle a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Russia expects Finland to return the artworks soon. She also described the confiscation of the items as unlawful.
Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin asked Finland to return the artworks and pay compensation to Russia for the confiscation.
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Russia’s Minister of Culture: Art is coming back this weekend
Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told the broadcaster on Thursday that customs officials were right to confiscate the shipments. The art objects should be “returned to the museums to which they belong,” he added.
The reported on Friday Reuters news agencythat the art objects are to be transported to Russia at the weekend. Russia’s Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova previously said the paintings would return to Russia over the weekend.
Customs only announced on Friday that the EU had changed its sanctions regulation against Russia, which originally came into force on March 16, 2022, with regard to the art paragraph. “The amendment makes it possible to issue a special permit for museum transport,” says one Message. “The amendment allows for the transfer of sanctioned artworks between museums with an exemption granted by a competent authority, in this case the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Customs: “Our activities are always based on applicable law”
The State Department will issue a permit under the new regulation for the transportation of works of art seized on April 1 and 2, the ministry announced on Friday. After issuing an exemption, Finnish customs will immediately reassess the situation, the agency said. “If confiscation of the works of art is no longer required as evidence for investigations, the customs authorities lift the confiscation of the goods.”
“It is good that the Sanctions Ordinance has been amended to better serve its purpose,” said Sami Rakshit. “Our work is always based on applicable law. This is what we did last weekend when we intercepted the shipments of artworks and will continue to do so in the future to ensure that the enforcement of the sanctions agreed at EU level remains effective.”