Russia decided on Friday decided to send its art masterpieces from its museums to London under the new law. Russia had earlier demanded a guarantee from British officials that the paintings be returned.

More than 120 paintings by renowned artists were due to arrive in London, next month, for the exhibition “From Russia: French and Russian Master Paintings 1870-1925”, which will include paintings by Matisse, Van Gogh, Renoir, Kandinsky and other famous Impressionists and post-Impressionist works.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to attend the opening of the exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts on January 26.

Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Film Mikhail Shvydkoi said there were no “political reasons” behind the decision to cancel the exhibition, but only safety concerns.

Russia’s four top art museums claimed they had no guarantee that the paintings would be returned. “The main fear is that the paintings would be claimed by heirs of their pre-revolutionary owners,” they said.

Textile magnate and a passionate collector, Sergei Shchukin lost over 250 paintings when the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia. His collection contains the star of the London exhibition — Matisse’s The Dance. Shchukin’s grandson, Andre-Marc Delocque-Fourcaud has twice tried to reclaim some of the paintings.

Russian museums are also concerned the paintings may be seized in order to recover debts from Russia.

The artworks are subject to the State Immunity Act, which safeguards all foreign state property in Britain. However, it only applies to the EU countries.

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