A bag with a musical instrument was found in a bus during border and customs control at the Palanka-Mayaki-Udobne checkpoint
Ukrainian border guards and customs officers from the Bilhorod-Dniester region prevented the export of a violin made by Italian master Antonio Stradivari in 1730, Ukrinform news agency reported, citing local authorities.
A bag with a musical instrument was discovered in a bus during border and customs control at the Palanka-Mayaki-Udobne checkpoint, after which the violin was seized and sent for examination.
The famous master Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 1737) created about 2,500 unique instruments, but only about 650 pieces have survived to this day.
The spokesman of the Ukrainian State Border Service, Andriy Demchenko, noted that since the beginning of the Russian invasion of the country, there has been a significant decrease in smuggling.
In April, another attempt to export a Stradivarius violin from Ukraine to Bulgaria at the Orlovka border crossing was foiled.
A Ukrainian tried to export the priceless instrument to our country by car, read a message from the customs service of the Odesa region.
He tried to pass through a green corridor without filling out tax declarations and aroused the suspicions of the customs officers who asked to inspect his car.
In the trunk, among the suitcases and boxes, the violin was found in a case, and on the musical instrument there was an inscription ANTONIUS STRADIUARIUS CREMONENSIS FACIEBAT ANNO 1742 (from Latin: Antonio Stradivarius of Cremona, 1742). In the case there was also a set of strings and a bow, produced in Soviet times.
