24 paintings from the Dutch Golden age, stolen from westfries Museum in Hoorn in 2005, held by the Ukrainian nationalists demanding a ransom for their return. On Monday said Museum Director ed Gerding (Ad Geerdink).

the Paintings were stolen on the night of 9 January 2005. Thieves allegedly hid in the Museum during the day, waited until it closed, and then disabled the alarm. A total of 70 stolen items of silver and 24 paintings of the XVII–XVIII centuries by such authors of the Golden age of Dutch art, as Jan van Goyen (Jan van Goyen) and Hendrik Bogaert (Hendrik Bogaert).

After years of fruitless search, the Museum staff a year ago saw one of the paintings on the Ukrainian site. In July of this year, two men, presented by members of the Ukrainian volunteer battalion "OUN" (volunteer militia fighting in the East of Ukraine), appealed to the Dutch Embassy in Kiev. They said that all the stolen collection of paintings is with them, and demanded a ransom for her return.

According to negotiators, the paintings were found in a Villa in the East of Ukraine. To confirm what pictures are they members of the "OUN" have given the Embassy a photo of one next to a fresh issue of the Ukrainian newspaper. They demanded that the whole process of negotiations and the exchange went without the involvement of the Ukrainian authorities.

the Dutch Government decided to give a chance to the city Council of the horn to decide the case on the refund alone. Mediator was a return specialist stolen art Arthur Brand (Arthur Brand). However, after he met with representatives of the volunteer battalion, the Brand said that "their assessment of the collection entirely unrealistic". They demanded 50 million euros, while in 2005, at the time of the theft, a work of art is estimated around 10 million euros. The brand believes that the current cost of painting, depending on their condition, amounts to 500 thousand Euro (if they are in poor condition) to 1.3 million euros (if condition is satisfactory). In response to this, members of the battalion demanded 5 million Euro as "a fee for finding it" and "not a penny less". The talks stalled.

In September, the Museum's management turned to its Embassy in Ukraine, hoping to return to work through diplomatic channels. So far, all to no avail. The Museum fear that the paintings could get on the black market, if you get into it.

Fear for the fate of the work forced the Museum to tell this story in the media yesterday. According to the Director of Gerdine, Ukrainian far-right formation "with connections in the highest political circles of Ukraine" holds the picture in several places on the territory of this country. A key figure in this history Museum said the Deputy commander of the battalion "OUN" Boris Gumenyuk. The leader of nationalist party "Freedom" Oleg Tyahnybok and former Chairman of the SBU Valentin Nalyvaychenko are "high-ranking persons acting behind the scenes of the volunteer battalion".

Director Gerding recorded an open appeal and posted it on YouTube: "All those, in whose hands are the treasures stolen and those that-то knows their whereabouts, I would like to say the following: you can't keep and sell these things. It's not the assets that you can sell for a fortune. These works of art are our national heritage, our history and they belong to our country".

the Minister of foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Bert Koenders (Bert Koenders) said in an interview with channel NOS, that is negotiating with political leaders of Ukraine and hopes for the return of works.

the Material was prepared by Maria Onuchin, AI

Sources: straitstimes.com, telegraph.co.uk, in.reuters.com, artinvestment.ru