Finland returns $46 million artworks seized below EU sanctions to Russia

Finland on Sunday mentioned {that a} cargo of artwork works from Russian museums has been returned to Russia after it was seized below EU sanctions towards Moscow.

Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova. (File Photo: REUTERS)

Finland says {that a} cargo of artwork works from Russian museums has been returned to Russia after it was seized below European Union sanctions towards Moscow.

Finland’s customs service mentioned late Saturday that the Foreign Ministry granted a particular allow to return the consignment with a complete insured worth of round 42 million euros ($46 million). It mentioned that vans carrying the artwork works from the Hermitage Museum and the Pavlovsk State Museum in St Petersburg, amongst others, left Finnish territory on Saturday afternoon.

The cargo was seized on the Vaalimaa border crossing at first of April. The works had been en path to Russia after mortgage to museums in Europe and Japan. Experts say that artworks loaned from Russia sometimes journey overland through Finland.

Russia has demanded the return of all works on mortgage to “unfriendly” nations that imposed sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.