SIMFEROPOL, January 18. /TASS/. The Crimean museums have officially informed the Amsterdam District Court that they intended to file an appeal against the court’s ruling to return the Scythian gold collection to Ukraine, Director of Crimea’s Central Museum of Tavrida Andrei Malgin told TASS on Wednesday.

"We have filed a notice of appeal… That is, we have informed the court that we intend to file an appeal against the ruling… So the court has been notified that we will carry on with the lawsuit," he stressed. The Crimean museums have been given three months to prepare the appeal, starting from the day when the court announced its decision and that deadline comes on March 14, 2017.

Legal battle

As TASS reported earlier, on December 14, 2016, the Amsterdam District Court ruled that the Scythian gold treasures should be returned to Ukraine and not the Crimean museums.

The Scythian gold collection from the Crimean museums was put on view at the Allard Pierson Museum of the University of Amsterdam in February 2014 when Crimea was still part of Ukraine. However, after the peninsula reunited with Russia in March 2014, an uncertainty over the collection arose as both Russia and Ukraine claimed the exhibits. In this regard, the University of Amsterdam suspended the handover until either the dispute is legally resolved or the parties come to terms.

Apart from the Central Museum of Tavrida, the Kerch Historical and Cultural Preserve, the Bakhchysarai Historical and Cultural Preserve and the Chersonesus Historical and Cultural Preserve are among those museums whose items are currently kept in Amsterdam. Items provided for the exhibition by a Kiev museum, were returned to Ukraine in September.