FCS Russia said that Vladivostok customs officers found an undeclared lithograph by painter Oleg Tolstoy of cultural value on a vessel arriving from Toyama, Japan.
The work was discovered in a crew member’s cabin. He said a stranger in Toyama had handed it to him for onward delivery to another person in Vladivostok.
The item was imported without declaration and was not for personal use. An administrative case was opened under Article 16.2(1) of the Code of Administrative Offences (failure to declare goods); the lithograph was seized for examination.
Experts identified it as the 1960 lithograph “Moscow Kremlin”, classified as a cultural asset. A court ordered confiscation for the state; the ruling has entered into force.
Cultural valuables brought into Russia must be declared on a passenger customs declaration and accompanied by an authorised expert opinion on their cultural status.
