National Agency of Ukraine for the Prevention of Corruption published a complete list of paintings and other art objects owned by a Russian oligarch’s family trust Roman Abramovich. Ukrainian authorities estimate the value of the collection at $1 billion. The list includes 367 works.
“By having such an open database of works of art, we can prevent them from being circulated within the industry and used to circumvent sanctions. Our goal is to confiscate these art objects from sanctioned persons and sell them. The funds received should be used to help rebuild Ukraine. This is the only way to ensure the return of such works to real collectors who respect their true meaning and do not use them as an instrument of crime,” said the head of the National Agency of Ukraine for the Prevention of Corruption, Alexander Novikov.
In September, “Important Stories” in collaboration with The Guardian found outthat in 2018 Abramovich’s collection included 369 pieces of art worth a total of $962 million. Then we named among the paintings in the collection works by Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso, Lucian Freud, Alberto Giacometti, Claude Monet, Rene Magritte and Kazimir Malevich.
Judging by the list published by the Ukrainian authorities, the collection also includes works by Piet Mondrian, David Hockney, Jackson Pollock, Cindy Sherman, Egon Schiele, Matthew Barney, Richard Prince and many others. The Anti-Corruption Agency of Ukraine notes that information about the owners of these paintings “cannot be found on the official websites of auction houses that sell works of art.”
“Important Stories” wrote that the collection is owned by the offshore company Seline-Invest, which is controlled by the Cyprus trust Ermis Trust Settlement established by Abramovich. After divorce Abramovich and his ex-wife Daria Zhukova divided the beneficial shares in the trust in half, and three weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich lost 1% to Zhukova, and the ratio of shares became 51% to 49%. A month later, Abramovich found himself under EU and UK sanctions, but the collection of masterpieces remained untouched. It is unknown where Abramovich’s collection is located physically. World masterpieces from his collection were lost to museums for a long time.
You can see the entire Abramovich collection (with illustrations) Here.