- Gold of Polubotok
The Gold of Polubotok ( _ua. Золото Полуботка, "Zoloto Polubotka") is the story of a large amount of
gold which UkrainianHetman Pavlo Polubotok supposedly deposited into an English bank in 1723, and which would have been returned upon the independence of Ukraine with an astronomical amount of interest.The Legend
In 1723, Hetman Polubotok was recalled to
St. Petersburg by TsarPeter I of Russia . The story holds that suspecting his imminent arrest, Polubotok secretly deposited 200,000 gold coins (chervonets ) in theBank of England , under 7.5% annual interest. The amount, the bank, and the interest vary in different versions: some sources cite two barrels of gold, or 2.5% annual interest, or the Bank of theBritish East India Company . In his will, Polubotok allegedly bequeathed eighty percent of the gold to a future independent Ukraine, and the rest to his successors.Russian investigation and recovery attempts
The story first became widely known in 1907, when it was published in the Russian journal "New Time" by Professor [http://www.debryansk.ru/~mir17/zemliak/rubec.htm Alexander Rubets] . In 1908 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia ordered the issue to be investigated by the Russian Consulate in
London . Specifically, their unclaimed deposits at the Bank of England over the previous 200 years were investigated, and were found to total less than the alleged amount of Polubotok's fortune.In August 1913 a group of 170 individuals was met in Starodub, Chernihiv region who called themselves the offspring of Polubotok. However, none of the offspring were able to documentarally provide the bonifide documents regarding their relationship to Polubotok nor provie any information regarding the account at the Bank of England.
Ukrainian Soviet recovery attempts
A relative - Ostap Polubotok was however found in San Paulo, Brazil. In 1922 he met up with the Ukrainian Soviet Consul - Yuri Kotsubinsky in Vienna and had with him a copy of the 200 year old document attesting to his legacy.
Kotsubynsky approached Hryhory Petrovsky with a plan for the recovery of the fortune.
In July 1922 a meeting took place between Ostap Polubotok, Robert Mitchell (from the Bank of England and because of Kotsubynsky's ailment Consul Peter in Maria-Esensdorf outside of Vienna.
The matter however came to a halt with the removal and repression of Petrovsky and Kotsubynsky.
oviet investigation and recovery attempts
On January 22 1960 under the
Dwight Eisenhower administration the United States proclaimed Ukraine Day. The Soviet KGB reported that England had given money to support this propagandist action and that the money had come from the Polubotok bank account. The matter came to the attention ofNikita Khrushchev who initiated an investigation to recover the money. A commission as set up which included historians - Dr Olena Kompan, and Dr Olena Apanovych [Plachynda, S. Kozak-dusha pravdyvaya - Kiev, 208 ISBN 966-8263-18-9 p.177] .In January 1968 Olena Apanovych published her findings in a paper read at the Presidium. She was later asked not to discuss this "state secret" [Plachynda, S. Kozak-dusha pravdyvaya - Kiev, 208 ISBN 966-8263-18-9 p.177] .
According to the investigators on 22 May 1723 Polubotok received a summons to appear in Petersburg. Polubotok thought that the matter was related to his son's secret meeting with
Pylyp Orlyk in France. Polubotok began his trip to the Russian capital 13 July 1723. It accompanied two huge carts of "salt" and "salted fish". The carts continued toArkhangelsk and were put onto an Englishfrigate from where the gold was sent toLondon .The cargo was met in London by Polobotok's son and Pylyp Orlyk and the gold was deposited into the Bank of England with to copies of Polubotok's instructions in Latin. These two documents remain in the Bank of England today [Plachynda, S. Kozak-dusha pravdyvaya - Kiev, 208 ISBN 966-8263-18-9 p.177] .
By January 1, 1965 the gold bank deposit during its 242 year had grown to equal the 3 year budget of France - a trillion pounds Sterling or 10 trillion American dollars.
In the chaotic time of the
Soviet Union 's collapse, the story again attracted public attention. In May 1990, Ukrainian poetVolodymyr Tsybulko announced that if the gold were returned, it would amount to 38 kilograms for each citizen of independent Ukraine. This astronomical figure, about twenty times the world's gold reserve, was achieved due tocompounding of interest over 270 years. The heated interest in the Polubotok treasury coincided with a visit toKiev on June 9, 1990 of British Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher . The Ukrainian parliament ordered the creation of a special committee headed by the VicePrime Minister of Ukraine , Dr. Petro Tronko, which visited London. The gold, however, has not been found. Recently, poet Tsybulko confessed that his speech in 1990 was propagandistic.Outcomes
The legend of Polubotok's gold was made into a comic film.
References
ources
* "Hetman gold detective", Ihor Malyshevskyi,
Zerkalo Nedeli , #50(374), December 22, 2001. ( [http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/show/374/33281/ in Russian] , [http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/374/33281/ in Ukrainian] )
* "A fool is enriched by a notion, or why Polubotok's will could not have been written", Oleh Havriushyn,Zerkalo Nedeli , #8(383), March 2, 2002. ( [http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/show/383/33972/ in Russian] , [http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/383/33972/ in Ukrainian] )
* "Once again on chickens with antlers, and on mentality", Ihor Malyshevskyi,Zerkalo Nedeli , #12(387), March 29, 2002. ( [http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/show/387/34247/ in Russian] , [http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/387/34247/ in Ukrainian] )
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