Detectives of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine together with the Security Service of Ukraine and under the procedural supervision of prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office ensured the return to Kyiv of items from the collections of Crimean museums that were presented at the exhibition "Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea".

These are 565 items including antique sculptures, scythian and sarmatian jewelry, chinese lacquer boxes, etc. The insured value of the exhibits is almost $1.5 million.

In 2013, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine approved the export of more than 2,000 pieces of cultural property from Ukraine which were kept in museums in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Kyiv. According to the agreements the museum exhibits were transported to the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Allard Pearson Archaeological Museum.

The exhibition was to be held from February to May 2014. However, after its completion the Allard Pearson Museum refused to return the cultural property as russia began occupying Crimea in February 2014. At the same time, museums in Crimea which are de facto controlled by the russian authorities, insisted on returning the Scythian gold. A lawsuit has begun in the Netherlands.

In Ukraine a pre-trial investigation was initiated under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. During the investigation the cultural property was recognized as material evidence and seized. Law enforcement agencies sent inquiries to the competent authorities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, questioned museum staff, persons who exported the valuables and other involved parties.

After almost 10 years of litigation, in June 2023, the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of the Netherlands ordered the Allard Pearson Museum to return the exhibits to Ukraine.

Thanks to the joint efforts of law enforcement the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, artifacts from four museums in Crimea that were presented at the Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea exhibition have returned to the country. They were transferred to the National Museum of History of Ukraine and will be stored there until the de-occupation of Crimea.