An attempt to smuggle 100-year-old silverware in Odesa region

A citizen of Ukraine tried to illegally export dishes and tableware with signs of antiquity through the Orlivka checkpoint in Odesa region.

According to the press service of Odesa Customs, they were found during a customs inspection of the luggage of passengers on a bus she was traveling on to Georgia.

Among the woman's personal belongings were objects that looked like silver: coffee cups, cube glasses, sugar tongs, spoons and forks for various household purposes. Most of them bear the name marks of the craftsmen, the year of marking, and the assay. Visually, the oldest among the antiquities is a fork with a stamp of 1841.

The citizen did not provide any permits for the export of items made in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. The antiques were temporarily seized under a report on violation of customs rules. Their value and belonging to cultural and historical values will be determined by an expert.

In July, border guards of the Izmail detachment detained a large consignment of goods that were being smuggled under the guise of humanitarian aid without proper declaration through the Reni-Auto checkpoint in Odesa Oblast. As a result of the inspection, border guards found undeclared commercial cargo, including knitwear, medical supplies, and personal care products.

Also in July, another Ukrainian woman tried to take an ancient image of Christ the Almighty through the same Orlivka checkpoint. The icon, which has signs of cultural and historical value, was carefully hidden in the car's luggage compartment. The wooden base of the icon had the remains of a label. The inscription read that it was sold in the Shestopalov and Krotov Trading House, a well-known pre-revolutionary Odesa business.

Кирило Бойко