In St. Petersburg, the diocese is trying through the court to take away a privatized building from the company

On January 17, 2012, it became known that the St. Petersburg diocese was trying to take away the privatized building from the Beal company through the court.

Beal LLC, which is engaged in the maintenance and leasing of real estate objects, rented for 15 years, and in 2009 bought out for 21 million rubles a building at Starorusskaya street, 8. The company began repairs in this building in order to organize a business center here, and already found tenants.

In August 2011, the St. Petersburg diocese applied to the court with a demand to invalidate the privatization of this building. She substantiated her demand by the fact that until 1917 this building was a single ensemble with a temple located nearby.

The court refused the diocese, since it was not possible to prove the holding of services in the controversial building before the revolution. Beal LLC won two lawsuits. KUGI and the City Property Fund acted on the side of the defendant.

Then KUGI held a meeting with representatives of the diocese, after which the position of the committee changed. Officially, the KUGI does not name the reason for the change, but, according to Delovoy Peterburg , it is connected with the personal order of the governor Georgy Poltavchenko. Now the city budget is ready to return 21 million rubles to the company, although the market value of the building is already 85-98 million, plus the company spent money on repairs.

“With all due respect to the ROC, one cannot break the law: the facility has been privatized, and only in violation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is it possible to force the current owner (BIL LLC) of the building to release it and transfer it to the ROC,” Yana Borovitskaya, coordinator of the League of Tenants of St. Petersburg, comments on the situation. She fears that the cancellation of the privatization of the building on Starorusskaya Street will become a precedent that will entail selective restitution of nationalized property.

Sources

• Dzhanibekova A., Agarkova L. Church right of redemption // Business Petersburg. 2012. January 17.