Museum worker or “black” collector? A thousand icons, two thousand works of folk painting, hundreds of ancient books and geographical maps, ancient painted chests, thousands of towels, rarities of Tripoli culture and Scythian times - this is just an approximate description of the collection of the owner of the historical and ethnographic museum, Vladimir Nedyak.
According to some estimates, the number of exhibits may be close to 30 thousand, but how did all these treasures, worth millions of dollars, end up in private hands?
Where does the average collector get such rare specimens? And what does ex-president Viktor Yushchenko, “black” archaeologists and possible cooperation with the Russian Federation have to do with it? Details - in a large-scale investigation
Vladimir Nedyak is known in cultural circles as a collector of Ukrainian antiquities, director of the private historical and ethnographic museum “Cossack Lands of Ukraine”. The museum has a huge territory in the Cherkasy region of more than 67 hectares, where buildings erected using ancient technologies using the tools of that time are located. However, according to information from the Ministry of Culture, this institution is not listed in the network of public museums of various forms in the Cherkasy region.
The decoration of the museum is the Scythian and Polovtsian “women”. There are almost three dozen such stone idols in Nedyak’s collection. However, where the collector picked them up and transported them from is unknown. Although historically the location for stone women was never chosen by chance. These were mounds or, for example, burial grounds, that is, territories of sacred significance. At the same time, in the open area of the museum, the unique collection is under threat - the stone may experience damage from rain, winds and snow.
Yes, and security raises questions: there is only one guard for 67 hectares.
And in one of the video interviews with Nedyak, the collector shows an old tome and emphasizes: the book is rare, there are only four of them in Ukraine. These shots really amazed the real museum workers. After all, the book simply crumbles in Vladimir’s hands, and this can hardly be called careful and high-quality storage of a unique exhibit.
The state part of the museum fund is stored in state institutions, that is, in museums. The non-state part of the museum fund is stored in private collections. That is, both are the property of the state. And it is a cultural heritage. “- notes the curator of the funds of the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko Yulia Shilenko.”
She emphasizes: storage is a very important component. After all, the more carefully we follow the rules and create proper conditions for storage, the longer the artifacts will remain unharmed, and the more subsequent generations will be able to see them.
To see with my own eyes the conditions under which Mr. Nedyak’s collection is preserved, the StopCor team tried to arrange a visit with him.
However, media workers faced significant resistance from museum workers.
“I don’t have a museum here, only a publishing house. Here is the publishing house and that's it. This is the story,” said Vladimir.
It is noteworthy that this dialogue with reporters took place near the Academy, where, thanks to the State Property Fund, Mr. Nedyak rents several rooms. According to our sources, part of his collection is also stored there, but no one can get there - even representatives of the State Property Fund are not allowed in.
What do they say about Vladimir Nedyak in professional circles?
As the art historian Daria told the StopCora film crew on confidential terms, in the modern museum sphere of Ukraine, Nedyak seems to be known as the “guru of black archeology.”
“Illegally excavated Trypillian settlements and Scythian mounds, the appropriation and displacement of Polovtsian women, the looting of Ukrainian churches and the deception of regional museums - this is what his collection consists of, which the Louvre, not to mention the national museums of Ukraine, would envy. Why the question of the origin of the collection of Nedyak, who has had no officially confirmed income for most of his life, has arisen only now is very surprising. But thank God it happened. This means there is a chance that we will be able to preserve these things for future generations,” she says.
Moreover, according to our interlocutor, Mr. Nedyak probably not only misappropriated, but also illegally traded in Ukrainian cultural heritage.
So where did the museum owner get the funds for all these treasures and how did he manage to assemble such a unique collection?
Vladimir Nedyak himself assures: these are honestly earned funds from the publication of six thousand copies of his book “Ukraine-Cossack State” and income from cooperation with a famous metropolitan hotel.
“Are you interested in reporting, as journalists, what are you interested in? Where did I earn the money? That's how I tell it. Go to the Hyatt Hotel. In 2008, I completely designed 426... 246 rooms. I earned, I don’t remember, 3 million... honestly, I forgot. Already when there was a crisis. Paid 250 thousand in tax to banks. What I filmed was officially carried out,” he says.
So, from his words it follows that Mr. Nedyak is a former millionaire.
Although for some reason the media does not have any mention of his work at the Hyatt Hotel. So this legend seems doubtful, especially since the collector himself periodically changes versions regarding the origin of some exhibits. Although decent collectors should not be concerned about these issues. After all, every rarity must have its own document confirming the legality of its origin.
“Those things that you receive from me come with certificates. I have a secure letterhead on which I write an annotation, a photograph, and even make a monetary assessment of those things. I put a stamp and signature,” comments antiquities collector Fyodor Zarnetsky.
According to Ukrainian law, any outstanding exhibits, even in private collections, must be listed in the state register.
“We have a Constitution under which we work. Article 333 is the law on the protection of monuments. We have a law that defines what exactly constitutes cultural monuments. There is a register that is mandatory for all types of cultural and historical heritage,” notes expert on Trypillian culture, cultural figure Irina Forestyan.
But do these laws work in practice? And where can Nedyak transfer unaccounted for Ukrainian treasures? ?
According to art critic Daria, most of Mr. Vladimir’s buyers are from Russia. And it is precisely to the aggressor country that unique exhibits can be exported illegally.
“These barbarians did not encroach primarily on our lands, but on our culture and history. Look how they rob our museums in the occupied territories: they took from the Stone Grave national reserve unique ancient rock carvings - petroglyphs - these are the oldest written records on the planet, which are 40 thousand years old. They stole gold artifacts of the Byzantine period from the Chersonese Tauride museum-reserve. I really want to believe that after the Victory we will return everything to Ukraine,” she emphasizes.
According to the woman, many museum specimens are taken out in suitcases, on trains to Europe, and there they are sold to Russian occupiers and collectors for next to nothing.
“Recently Nedyak sold a rare Gospel abroad. There are only a few of these in Ukraine. They are priceless. This book is not only a Holy letter, it is a statement that services were conducted in the Old Ukrainian language back in the 16th century. A simple woman transported this relic in a suitcase, not understanding what she was taking out of Ukraine. And the rare triptych that was sold, perhaps only by rare chance, fell into the hands of a virtuous Ukrainian collector,” says Daria.
Who can cover all these “equipment”?
Recently, an exhibition was held at the Kyiv History Museum, where Nedyak also presented his exhibits from the Cossack period, in particular icons and the Gospel. The editors of StopCor sent a request to the Museum, asking what documents Nedyak provided regarding the property and their origin. But no one responded to journalists within the period established by law.
So the legality of the exhibited items raises even more questions, the answers to which may be known... by the former President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko.
As evidenced by video footage of their meeting, Yushchenko and Nedyak were friends. According to available information, it was Vladimir who was entrusted with collecting rare exhibits for the museum, which should open within the complex under the auspices of Yushchenko. According to StopCor's sources, he allegedly traveled around Ukraine and negotiated with museums to transfer the most valuable relics to the capital. But time passed, and the museum never opened.
“Indeed, I remember there were round tables on this matter, a meeting where both the supervisory board of the Art Arsenal and some other museums took part. This should be the Museum of the History of the Ukrainian People. Then Yushchenko ceased to be president and there was simply no time for museums. And Nedyak – it is obvious to me that there is a person who appropriated our property,” comments a person from Viktor Yushchenko’s former entourage on condition of anonymity.
“In 2004, Nedyak had an affair with a fellow official of mine... Among other things, with her assistance, ancient Ukrainian artifacts were transferred from museum collections in different regions of Ukraine to Nedyak. After all, the dependence of museum management on the ministry was total at that time. So, as if something was lost, something could not be restored, something was underdescribed... Thus, many of the exhibits “lost” by the museum funds ended up with Nedyak,” says Oksana (name changed for security reasons).
Another source of replenishment of Nedyak’s collection, according to insiders, could be the so-called “black archaeologists.”
It is noteworthy that Vladimir himself openly boasted about the media people: he seems to have 36 dealers working for him throughout Ukraine.
“I learn from them about all the interesting archaeological finds that appear on the antiques market. I do not ask who found this or that rarity, but I demand that they tell me where it was found. Dealers have an ironclad rule to keep this information secret,” says Nedyak.
At the same time, as the second deputy chairman of UTOPIK, Alexander Sulim, emphasizes, according to the rules, any honest collector who wants to keep his name unsealed and really strives to leave a mark on Ukrainian culture must report his find to the SBU.
“The Law on Archaeological Heritage automatically assigns any archeological object to the Museum Fund of Ukraine. That is, in fact, if it is an archaeological object, then according to the law the citizen is obliged to transfer it to the museum fund of Ukraine. This applies without exception to all elements of archaeological heritage - the law here is very strict,” confirms Maryana Tomin, director of the department of cultural heritage under the Ministry of Culture.
However, Vladimir Nedyak does not agree with this thesis.
“Article 25 of the Constitution says: private property is inviolable. I collected it and do whatever I want with it. She is mine and mine. I live according to my conscience and collect. This is private property. A cultural heritage that I preserve,” he declares.
So exactly what and how it falls into the hands of Mr. Nedyak is virtually impossible to record. It is also impossible to track what disappears from there.
As StopCor learned, the Academy, where Nedyak rents premises, sued him for debts, since the museum stopped paying for the rooms. Also in the lawsuit, the Academy points out illegal hidden search work, as a result of which information about the commission of a criminal offense was entered into the unified register of pre-trial investigations, providing for punishment for the search for movable objects from archaeological heritage sites.
In addition, in order to investigate the legality of Nedyak’s collection, a group of people’s deputies turned to Prime Minister Denis Szmigal, who instructed relevant ministers to study this issue.
Also, at the moment, in the Cherkasy region, the Zolotinovsky district police department has begun a pre-trial investigation under Article 198: acquisition, receipt, storage or sale of property obtained by criminal means.
For its part, StopKor transfers all the facts seized by reporters to law enforcement agencies and is already preparing the next series of journalistic investigations.
