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Ukrainian authorities will now invite Italian experts to
authenticate the paintings -- which have an estimated value of
more than 16 million euros ($18.3 million) -- and prepare for
them to be handed back, his office said in a statement.
Footage released by the president's office showed Ukrainian
border guards unwrapping the paintings, which had been covered
with plastic sheets.
The art works were found about 1.5 km (1 mile) from the border
with Moldova, the statement said, without elaborating.
The paintings were stolen on Nov. 19 by thieves who acted just
after the Verona museum's 11 staff had left but before a remote
alarm system with the police station was activated. They tied up
the museum cashier and forced an armed guard to hand over keys
to his car, which they used to get away.
The robbery prompted recriminations in Italy over the lack of
security at the museum, which some critics blamed on public
spending cuts.
Poroshenko, whose government needs to convince its Western
backers that it is serious about tackling corruption, said
recovering the paintings was a measure of what Ukraine was
capable of.
"Today, this brilliant operation reminds the world about the
efficient struggle of Ukraine against smuggling and corruption,
inter alia, smuggling of works of art," Poroshenko said.
Last month Ukrainian security services recovered four Dutch
masterpieces, dating from the country's 17th-century Golden Age,
more than 10 years after they were snatched from a museum in the
Netherlands.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Matthias Williams;
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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