The new ruling coalition in Narva does not wish to hand over the museum's Russian art collection to the state. They believe that this collection may meet the same fate as the Narva tank. Two months ago, the Ministry of Culture proposed that Narva transfer the museum collection to the state.
The Narva Museum has been operating for over 10 years, but the museum items are still in the hands of the local government. Narva has not wanted to hand them over to the state for these years. Therefore, the museum cannot use free conservation and restoration services.
The Narva coalition agreement gives hope for the transfer of the museum collection to the state. However, Narva wants to keep the most valuable part of the collection for itself. This part is the art collection of merchant Sergei Lavretsov, which he donated to Narva 100 years ago.
In Tallinn, there are fears that Narva will turn this art collection into the next tank. The Narva Museum responds that the museum items will remain in their places after the transfer.
According to the museum, preserving the valuable art collection is very expensive. This can only be done with state support. There are different opinions within the Narva coalition. For example, Mikhail Stalnuhhin says that he repairs his apartment himself at his own expense and that the art collection is also Narva's property. Katri Raik, however, says that part of the assets should be handed over to the state because the city cannot maintain and restore them.
The collection of the Narva Museum contains over 80,000 museum items. Lavretsov's Russian art collection makes up less than a tenth of it.