ST. PETERSBURG, October 5 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) – Chinese citizen Xu Chao, who allegedly attempted to export a work by the Russian landscape painter Alexey Savrasov, will stand trial in St. Petersburg.
The case has been submitted to the Moscow District Court of St. Petersburg, a court’s representative told RAPSI on Thursday.
Xu Chao is charged with illegal export of cultural values across the Customs Union’s border, according to prosecutors.
Investigators claim that in March 2017, the defendant registered his luggage with the hidden “Wintry Landscape” painting by Savrasov and concealed a sketch-book by Olga Lagoda-Shishkina in hand baggage when leaving St. Petersburg for China.
The cultural values estimated at more than 1.3 million rubles ($22,600) have not been declared. The Chinese national has not obtained permit to export the works of art, prosecutors said.