Ukraine
The UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970 was ratified by Ukraine with declaration by Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic No. 5396-XI of 10.02.1988.
The export of cultural property is mainly regulated by the following national legal acts:
- Law of Ukraine No. 1068-XIV of 21.09.1999 "On Exportation, Importation and Restiution of Cultural Values", amended 13.02.2020;
- Custom Code of Ukraine No. 4495-VI of 13.03.2012, amanded 16.04.2022;
- Decree N. 984 of 20.06.2000 "On approval of the form of certification on the right of exportation (temporary exportation) of cultural values from the territory of Ukraine";
- Law of Ukraine No. 3814-XII of 24.12.1993 "On the National Archive Funds and Archive Institutions";
- Law of Ukraine No. 32/95-BP of 27.01.1995 "On Libraries and Librarianship";
- Law of Ukraine No. 5203-VI of 06.09.2012 "On Administration Services" (which repealed the Decree of the Minister of Culture of Ukraine No. 258 of 22.04.2002 "Instruction on the registration of export and temporary export of cultural values, and monitoring their movement across the state border of Ukraine", registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine under No. 571/6859 on 09.07.2002), amended by the Law No. 2024-IX of 27.01.2022;
The multilingual UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws provides access to the relevant national legal bases. Another source of information on national cultural asset protection laws is the Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws On Crime (SHERLOC) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Connected with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, in addition to the export bans already implemented by law (see below under "Export bans"), reference is made to a general export ban on cultural property that has been reported as stolen. This applies in particular to museum objects and archival documents that are marked with appropriate preservation measures such as inventory numbers, stamps, etc.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has provided a database of items reported as stolen. Separate registration before using this database is not necessary. In addition, a search can be made in the Interpol database, but prior registration is required.
The Council of the European Union has standardized through the Council Regulation EU) 2024/1745 of 24 June 2024 amending Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, that it shall be prohibited to purchase, import, transfer, sell, supply or export, directly or indirectly, Ukrainian cultural property goods and other goods of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific or religious importance, where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the goods have been removed from Ukraine without the consent of their legitimate owner or have been removed in breach of Ukrainian law or international law, in particular if the goods form an integral part of the public collections listed in the inventories of the conservation collections of Ukrainian museums, archives or libraries, or of the inventories of Ukrainian religious institutions, Art. 3 v, paragraph 1.
The prohibition shall not apply if it is demonstrated that the goods were exported from Ukraine prior to 1 March 2014; or the goods are being safely returned to their legitimate owners in Ukraine, Art. 3 v paragraph 3 a and b.
Please be aware: certain cultural goods belonging to the cultural heritage of this state are included in object categories of the so called Emergency Red List for Cultural Objects at risk Ukraine of the particularly endangered cultural heritage by the International Council of Museums ICOM.