Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In the late 1920s, the Soviet government urgently needed foreign currency to finance the rapid industrialization of Russia ordered in the first Five Year Plan. The government had already sold off collections of jewelry, furniture and icons seized from the Russian nobility, wealthy classes, and the church. In February 1928, the State Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, along with the Russian Museum, was ordered to make a list of art works worth at least two million rubles, for export. A special agency called 'Antiquariat' was created under the "Narkompros" (the People's Commisariat of Enlightenment)
Hermitage Capital Management “swift and robust action” adding that “top Putin oligarchs should be on that list”. Also in May, Browder was briefly detained in Spain when a Russian arrest warrant for extradition placed him on Interpol’s Red Notice. Hermitage Capital Management Hermitage Capital Management is an investment fund and asset management company specializing in Russian markets founded by Bill Browder and Edmond Safra. Chief Operating Officer is Ivan Cherkasov. Hermitage Capital Management headquarters are in Guernsey, it also maintains offices in the Cayman Islands, London and Moscow, Russia. Its main investment fund, the Hermitage Fund created in 1996, was rated as extremely