The history of the collection
Patriarch Volodymir and Mr. Palivoda
On 23 September 1992, the Public Coordination Centre for Supporting the President of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Centre) was established by Decree of the President of Ukraine.
On 28 September 1992, the Statute of the Centre was approved. The Centre’s primary role was to receive, register, and safeguard charitable monetary donations, gifts, contributions, and other material assets received from individuals and legal entities addressed to the President of Ukraine, the Presidential Administration, and the Centre.
On 18 February 1993, Patriarch Volodymyr, by Patriarchal Decree, appointed Vasyl Aksanyuk, then a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as the custodian of a portion of the collection and artworks entrusted to the Church.
On the same day, the Patriarch issued a second Decree instructing Father Vasyl to coordinate his activities with the Centre and its head, Mr. Palyvoda — in service of both the parish and the state.
On 22 July 1993, the Centre received a donation of an art collection from Mr. B. Bergelson, a citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany, which was documented with a transfer act.
At that time, the collection was stored in Europe and did not yet have confirmed attribution or valuation.
In June 1994, by decision of the then-President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, and with the approval of the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the collection donated by Mr. Bergelson was transferred into the ownership of Father Vasyl Aksanyuk, which was also documented with a transfer act.
The purpose of the transfer was to ensure the preservation of the collection and its use in charitable, cultural, and humanitarian programs of the Church.
A formal memo reporting the transfer was submitted to the President by Mr. Palyvoda.
The first President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk and Mr. B. Bergelson
Owner of the Collection Vasyl Aksaniuk (centre),
and expert Ms. Kehan Lee
In 2011, Father Vasyl requested to be relieved of active parish duties and placed on inactive status in order to focus on the collection entrusted to his care.
In 2014, at the recommendation of Cardinal Lyon, Mr. Palyvoda and Father Vasyl visited the Vatican, where they had an audience with Cardinal Gianfranco Girotti (St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome).
In addition to valuable guidance received during the meeting, they were advised to collaborate with the MICROLAB Laboratory at the Institute of History in Madrid and with Professor Alicia Perera as an expert.
Cardinal Girotti and Mr. Palyvoda
Professor Alicia Perera and Vasyl Aksaniuk
Since 2016, research and examination of the entire collection has been ongoing at the Institute of History in Madrid. Of the first 22 jewellery items examined by Professor Alicia Perera, 13 were found to be authentic.
According to Professor Perera’s findings, the authentic items were created by Greek craftsmen in the Northern Black Sea region between the 6th and 2nd centuries BCE, commissioned by Scythian nobility, and feature elements of Hellenistic culture from that period.
On 20 October 2022, a portion of the collection previously studied by Ms. Perera was also assessed and evaluated by expert Kehan Lee.
Work on the collection is ongoing today.
Expert Kehan Lee examines a Golden Lamp, an object from the Collection