Is it possible to compromise the top of the Russian Orthodox Church, talking about earthly wealth

Comparing himself with the prophet, Patriarch Kirill called on the flock not to believe his own eyes and ears if information about the earthly wealth of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church is reaching them. Why is there no reason to reinforce the assets of the Primate again?

It is rare that Cyril’s sermon has recently become an “informational occasion”. But the sermon on August 2, on the day of the Prophet Elijah, uttered in the Moscow Temple of the same name in Upensky Lane, became such an occasion.

At first, the Patriarch emphasized that he was saying “God's truth”, and the Prophet is “the one who conveys the truth to people.” Then - the Amvon exploded deliberately secular, a little slang vocabulary: “Brad ... I went up ...” and told the prayers that he did not have 6 billion dollars, and the purpose of all publications about his property is “to compromise those who proclaim the truth of God ... so that the people cease to listen to us.”

The Patriarch spoke about his conversation with the poor elderly bishop, who asked him a little money. "Well, we transfer money to you." “No, you will help you from your own.” From the narrative it followed that the Patriarch had no money ... Although Cyril did not name the name of his interlocutor, according to the signs he listed, it seems that he was a former archbishop of Kerch Anatoly (Kuznetsov), who is now 90 years old.

Originally from the 90s

It is strictly impossible to describe the property of Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev (official, according to the passport, the name of the patriarch). It is almost how to set the goal of “objectively” to evaluate the assets of V.V. Putin or, say, Sergey Shoigu. The structure of such property is extremely blurred, and the line between personal and “nationwide” is often erased. So in the Russian Orthodox Church - dozens of palaces, luxurious limousines, yachts, watches, vestments, other luxury items seem to “belong to the whole church”. But only one person can dispose of them. “The Russian Orthodox Church is me,” Cyril could say a little to Popying Louis XIV.

The peak of publications about his wealth fell on the late 90s-the beginning of the zero, when Cyril was not a patriarch. In February 2012, “New” summed up these publications.

Recall only a few key episodes.

From 1989 until his appointment by the Patriarch in 2009, Cyril led the Department of External Church Relations (ACCS) of the Patriarchate. In the 90s, this department closed almost all spheres of the ROC, except for worship and education.

Cigarettes

The first of its major commercial project was the Nika Financial and Trade group arising in 1993. Its vice-president became Archpriest Vladimir Veriga, a commercial director of the Association, who died from the coronavirus for Easter this year.

With the participation of the group under the guise of humanitarian aid, without customs duties, several billion cigarettes were imported into Russia.

Thanks to that scam, Cyril even received the nickname tobacco.

Later, at one of the press conferences, he tried to shift the responsibility to the government: they say, the ACCO did not know “what to do: burn these cigarettes or send them back? We turned to the government, and it made a decision: to recognize this with a humanitarian load. ” The former head of the tax service Alexander Pochinok in his interview with Izvestia actually denied the Patriarch. Information about the tobacco scam in the media “merged” the National Sports Fund and other competitors who have lost their market shares.

Oil

In the line of another commercial structure, established by the Russian Orthodox Church, - “International Economic Cooperation” (MEC) - ACCS participated in the export of oil, also freed from customs duties. According to The New Times, only in 1997 the company's turnover reached $ 2 billion.

Bishop Victor (Pyankov), who is now comfortably living in Florida, represented in the Council of Directors of MAS Cyril. The author of the film “Rain” “Papa Russian” Sergey Yerzhenkov discovered several metastasis of the MES: his former general director Vitaly Kirillov acquired for V. M. Gundyaev the famous penthouse in the house on the embankment and headed the Russian Cultural Initiative Foundation in Geneva, where in the 1970s Cyril began his career as a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church under the World Council churches. (By the way, now this position is held by his nephew, Archpriest Mikhail Gundyaev.)

Since the service in Geneva, Cyril has remained a chalet in the mountains, donated by one Swiss.

Mr. Kirillov appears in a report published by the Swiss intelligence services where his fund is suspected of laundering money through oil and oil.

Cyril’s “business spell” remained in all places where he served. So, from 1984 to 2009, he headed the Smolensk diocese. O. Andrei Kuraev claims that Cyril still belongs to the "cutting factory in Smolensk", although "a beggar Smolensk diocese itself." The history of this plant was investigated in 1999 MK. The Business Partner of the Association in that delicate business was the company Arthemma , for which Cyril mined a license for the right to work with precious metals and stones and for the sale of finished products. According to the contract with other founders, the fixed share of the profit from this business was 15%.

In 1989, the Kaliningrad region was attached to the Smolensk diocese, which spent hundreds of kilometers from it. She still remains under the direct control of the patriarch. Experts explain this to the participation of the Kaliningrad diocese in the activities of the BMW Rusland enterprise , where part of the MEC capital through the company Vital is invested.

PR catastrophe

In fact, the current “prophetic” appeal of Cyril to the topic of his own wealth was a surprise. Systematic journalistic investigations on this subject ceased about 8 years ago, when the Patriarch underwent the largest PR catastrophe, from which neither he nor the Russian Orthodox Church recovered.

In 2012, three scandals erupted around the patriarch at once: Pussy Riot’s performance and the requirement to mercilessly punish the “blasphemy people”, extremely awkward attempts to justify Breguet, which the Patriarch’s press service tried to “focus”, and the trial around the penthouse in the house on the embankment, where, as it turned out, not two throusing, not there, not then three cousins ​​of the patriarch.

Cyril was then served by the propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, who handed over to the world the absurd version of the patriarch.

It turns out that the Patriarch has a clock in the photo, but he never put them on!

That scandal taught Cyril little - already in February of this year, the publication “Open Media” discovered his new elite Swiss watches with diamond jewelry.

But the most ugly was the story with a “dusty” apartment, started by “sisters”. A certain Lidia Leonova, who moved with Cyril to Moscow from Smolensk and registered with him in the house on the embankment (2 Serafimovich St.), sued a neighbor-the famous Cardiac doctor, a former minister of health, and now a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Yuri Shevchenko.

Allegedly, when repairing his apartment below, he managed to cover with the finest nanopoli the apartment of the Patriarch, the cleansing of which costs exactly the same as the Shevchenko apartment itself.

It is assumed that in this way Leonov wanted to double her own living space. When the same Soloviev invited the Patriarch to forgive his neighbor, the answer very unexpected for the Christian followed: "It would be incorrect to forgive."

Sisters, palaces and the flight of capital

The Patriarch's sisters who have fallen into the media lens in connection with a “dusty” apartment is a separate topic for secular chronicle. Officially, Cyril has only one sister-Elena, who runs the regent branch of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. But back in the 70s, during the years of serving the rector of this academy, Kirill had the first spiritual sister, and during the years of ministry in Smolensk-the second, the same Leonov. In the terminology of Vladimir Solovyov, they are cousin/second cousin.

However, the associate professor of the St. Petersburg Academy Archimandrite Augustine (Nikitin) claimed that before meeting with Cyril Lidia Leonov "he worked at the defense enterprises of Smolensk." Part of the property important for Cyril, according to sources from the encirclement of the patriarch, in addition to the "sisters", is decorated on two young bishops: Vyborg and Priozersky Ignatius (Punina, also known as ottoman) born in 1973 and Istrinsky Seraphim (Amelchenkova) born in 1985 (born, by the way, in Smolensk, where Cyril was transferred in 1984).

But the Patriarch does not use simple Penthus apartments in the house on the embankment. At his disposal - numerous luxurious residences with exclusive Italian furniture and qualified personnel guarded by the FSO (the new of them made the most interesting of them last year).

Yes, they do not belong to Cyril by right of ownership, and he does not bear obligations related to their maintenance, but access to ordinary mortals, including bishops, is closed there. The next patriarchal residence in Pushkin near St. Petersburg is building the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, investing billions of budget rubles there.

Thanks to the coronavirus self -isolation of the patriarch, the public learned a little more about the mysterious object “Skit” - the main place of his residence near Moscow, in the territory of the Bakovsky forestry in the Odintsovo district. In the period from Easter to the consecration of the “main temple” of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (from April 19 to June 14), the patriarch served Keleino at this very object, which in the official chronicle began to be called “St. Petersburg St. Alexander Nevsky. " According to the charter of the Russian Orthodox Church, monasteries are established under the monasteries by the decision of the Synod, but “the monastery of St. Alexander Nevsky ”is not mentioned in these decisions. Maybe he is not even part of the Moscow Patriarchate?

• Among other attributes of luxurious life, which, of course, “do not personally belong to the Patriarch,”-the Gulfstream G450 business jet worth $ 43 million, on which Cyril flew to coronavirus around the country. The plane was registered in San Marino under the T7-ZZZ number.

• The Patriarch also flew at Embraer Legacy 600 worth more than $ 25 million, owned by the owner of the Russian Copper Company Igor Altushkin. Some of Cyril’s business interests were previously associated with the Urals-in particular, with the extraction of emeralds by the Uralasbest company.

• On the ground, the Patriarch rides on the Mercedes with the Lymuzin body (license plate - C050RM 177) as part of a motorcade from escort and security machines. There are several more SUVs in his fleet and especially dear to his heart, a “seagull” , on which, once, a pretty young man, Metropolitan Nicodemus (Rotov) rolled.

Perhaps the answers to questions about the real state of Cyril should be sought in history with unexpected bankruptcy in 2016 of the Peresvet bank -a very successful brainchild of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the capitalization of which in the 2000s increased hundreds of times ("new" wrote in detail about it). It was created in the early 90s on the initiative of the same Cyril, and every third division of the Russian Orthodox Church kept its money in it. In addition, when Cyril became a patriarch, the deposits in the bank were placed “Transneft”, Rusnano, RusHydro, Pulkovo Airport, federal passenger company and other giants.

The bank was famous for a cautious credit policy, and suddenly on October 5, 2016 he began to issue high -risk loans to structures that have no assets and registered in offshores in huge quantities.

According to Fitch's authoritative agency, some of these organizations had signs of affiliation with bank management representatives. And on October 13, the head of the Bank of the Bank Alexander Shvets disappeared. In total, about $ 5 billion was withdrawn from this financial institution - and who was the real beneficiary of that simple scam, one can only guess.

Who will get everything?

In general, in the Gospel, Jesus calls: “Do not collect your treasures on the ground” (Matt. 6:19). It would seem that this call is literally literally referring to the monks who vow the non -possessions and do not have direct heirs (in theory). Cyril's preaching about 6 billion about. Andrei Kuraev called “a very serious PR-lice”, since Cyril’s life passes in sight and her inconsistency of preaching is too contrasting.

Judging by the actions of the Patriarch, he tries to reconcile in his mind the irreconcilable by identifying church property and his personal. Well, maybe making small exceptions for some offshore accounts.

In this regard, it is worthwhile to take a closer look at the rapid career rise of the 35-year-old Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk), who is now living in Paris. Pareneck was born in Tver, and at the age of 22, he suddenly became an employee of the OVCS communication service and a referent of the chairman of the department, Metropolitan Kirill.

* At 24, after the election of the chief by the Patriarch, he is already a personal secretary of the Primate and the head of his entire secretariat. At the same age, he was tonsured into monasticism, and a year later ordained a hieromonk.

• At the age of 25, Anthony receives an appointment for a parish in Rome,

• And at 28, after 3 years, the archimandrite is being built to the rank of Archimandrite (despite the fact that, according to the Regulation on the awards of the Russian Orthodox Church, it is necessary to serve for 40 years for the construction of this rank!).

• At the age of 30, he becomes Bishop Bogorodsky, the head of the Office for Foreign Institutions of the Patriarchate.

• Soon it is appointed Bishop Vienna and Budapest and at 32 is being built to the rank of archbishop.

• Finally, in May last year, at the age of 34, he was appointed Metropolitan of Korsunsky and West European, Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe.

No one has yet made such a swift career in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Surrounded by the patriarch, they are convinced: Anthony, who will soon become a permanent member of the Synod, is most like a person in which Cyril sees his heir.

COMMENT

Leonid Sevastyanov,

Former Employee of the World Bank, former head of the Foundation of St. Gregory of the Theologian ROC, now the chairman of the World Union of the Old Believers:

- Ten years ago, I made the initiative to create church enduums. Finances are blood vessels of any system, including the Russian Orthodox Church. In case of inability to build your finances, any system is doomed to collapse.

Even Christ with His disciples had a kind of financial system, which is described in the Gospel.

The Orthodox tradition implies: it doesn’t matter whether you are poor or rich, the main thing is to be independent in your moral judgments and in your spiritual life. The finances in the church should be engaged in an incorruptible, morally detached community. But, unfortunately, my call was not listened 10 years ago. Now the Russian Orthodox Church reaping the problems that I foresaw at the beginning of the current Patriarchate.