Gold items from Ukraine seized in Spain, valued at €60 million, were called fake by experts on Greco-Scythian artifacts. This was reported by The New York Times (NYT) on Tuesday, October 24.

We are talking about objects seized by the Spanish police, which were tentatively called Greco-Scythian artifacts dating back to the 8th–4th centuries BC. They were confiscated from three Ukrainian citizens and two Spaniards who were trying to sell the products illegally in Madrid.

“Two experts on Greco-Scythian artifacts said in interviews that the seized items are most likely modern imitations,” the publication reports.

Thus, an archaeologist at the Kharkov Historical Museum named after M.F. Sumtsov Leonid Babenko, told the newspaper in an email that the items were “clumsy fakes” and were most likely created for private collectors.

“In style and theme, this is an inept imitation of well-known products,” he noted.

An archaeologist who has written a book on Greco-Scythian art and is a professor of ancient Greece and Eurasia at the Bard Graduate Center in New York shares the same opinion.

“If they were genuine, their value would probably be much more than €60 million because this material is so scarce that it is priceless. There was no precedent in the art market for appreciating something like this,” the scientist said.

The Spanish police, in response to a request from the publication, dryly commented on the situation, saying only that the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid will be studying the seized items.

The Spanish National Police said it had seized €60 million worth of gold items illegally exported from Ukraine on October 23. The internal affairs attaché offices of Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, North Macedonia and Cyprus, as well as the international cooperation department, assisted in the investigation.

In particular, it was noted that 11 gold items worth more than €60 million, “belonging to the historical heritage of Ukraine,” were confiscated.