“BBC”: fake Faberge eggs were exhibited in the Hermitage, the owner of which is connected with “a close friend of Putin”

In the Hermitage, during the exhibition “Faberge - Jeweler of the Imperial Court,” fake exhibits were shown, the owner of which is associated with a “close friend” of Vladimir Putin, writes the BBC Russian service.

In January, London collector Andrei Ruzhnikov wrote an open letter to the director of the Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky. In it, the art dealer reported that “side by side with beautiful exhibits from the collections of the Hermitage, Pavlovsk and Peterhof” were “vulgar remakes”, “works not even of the 20th, but of the 21st century.”

Experts interviewed by the BBC agree with Ruzhnikov’s opinion, but the Hermitage itself refused to comment on the collector’s accusations.

The allegedly fake exhibits belong to the private Russian National Museum and the Museum of Christian Culture. The first organization is registered in the name of Alexander Ivanov, the second is patronized by Konstantin Goloshchapov, writes the BBC.

As wrote Scanner Project with reference to data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the partnership between Ivanov and Goloshchapov began at least in 2003. In addition, the latter registered the private Faberge Museum in Baden-Baden, Germany, and later Ivanov became its owner. Ivanov himself insists that his collaboration with Goloshchapov has already ended.

Business Petersburg, Scanner Project and Novaya Gazeta called Goloshchapov a “massage therapist” and a “close friend” of Putin. According to press reports, Goloshchapov is connected with people from Putin’s St. Petersburg circle, in particular, he was a partner of the brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg in the Northern Sea Route bank.

The BBC also notes that Goloshchapov's wife Iraya Gilmutdinova became a co-founder of the family foundation of the Italian art critic. The board of directors of the foundation included Piotrovsky and Tatyana Kustodieva, a leading researcher in the Hermitage’s department of Western European art.

In 2007, Ivanov bought a Rothschild egg by Faberge at a Christie's auction for $18.5 million. After 11 years, this egg was presented to the Hermitage by Vladimir Putin. Ivanov was listed as the donor of the exhibit. Putin’s second gift, the “Wedding Anniversary” mantel clock, was donated by Goloshchapov.