Than the Cathedral of Christ the Savior did not satisfy the consumers

The Consumer Protection Service (OZPP) filed a lawsuit in the Khamovnican District Court of Moscow in defense of the indefinite circle of consumers. The defendant in the lawsuit is "the courtyard of the Patriarch of the Moscow and All Rus' Cathedral Cathedral Cathedral of Christ the Savior." The reason for the lawsuit was the numerous complaints of citizens about servicing in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior: consumers do not like that jewelry sold in the temple does not have a sample, and sellers do not issue checks. OZPP conducted a check, finding out that in the XXC territory "there is a valid car wash, tire fitting, car service, paid parking, dining room, dry cleaning, trading stalls and pavilions that sell jewelry, souvenirs, dishes, cutlery, sewing products and other consumer goods."

"Separate premises of the temple are handed over to banquets and corporate parties. It is obvious that the washing of cars, where they work mainly by immigrants from Central Asia, like other similar services, are not a religious rite, therefore, they should not be regulated by the charter of a religious organization, but to secular law," the statement of claim said.

The chairman of the Consumer Rights Protection Society Mikhail Anshakov explained the details of the lawsuit Publicpost.

-Is the lawsuit filed on behalf of OZPP or any specific citizens?

We have the right to file a lawsuit "in defense of the indefinite circle of consumers", that is, in defense of all consumers. Specific people complained-mainly about the lack of branding of gold and silver products ... It came to jokes: a man bought some thing in a church shop, believing that he would not be deceived there. He came home, examined - and there is Arabic stigma, Arabic ligature, there is no stigma of the test chamber. That is, gold is clearly not of Russian origin, and the test also does not correspond to it.

Well, complaints about the lack of checks are often received. People buy in a church shop not necessarily objects of cult or religious literature (religious organization is exempted from the obligation to issue cash register checks), and ordinary souvenirs, jewelry, gold chains. But there are no cash receipts, which, of course, violates consumer rights. Well, other claims, they are set out in detail in our lawsuit.

- Is this the first lawsuit filed to XXS or do you know other precedents?

As far as I know, in the regions there were attempts to sue about the inappropriate, in the consumer’s opinion, the departure of the rite, it seems, funeral. The consumer filed a lawsuit. But the lawsuit in defense of the indefinite circle of consumers - he is the first in practice.

- The lawsuit was filed with the organization of the Patriarch Compound, but the temple itself and the adjacent lands are on the balance of Moscow?

"The Compound of the Patriarch" is a legal entity. It carries out activities on the territory of the temple, including commercial ones - sells goods and services. In parallel with this organization, there is also a certain “Foundation of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior”, a non -profit organization. This fund owns a car wash, tire fitting, laundry and dry cleaning. There are also violations there, but first we will see what documents the defendants will submit to the court. It is difficult to figure it out - there is, for example, a legal entity without documents at all. When the documents are, the circle of defendants may expand.

- That is, tire fitting exists on the territory of the temple just as a tenant?

No, this is a non -profit structure. It belongs to the fund, whose founder is the Moscow Patriarchate. In general, it’s difficult to figure it out there. The car wash, for example, belongs to LLC "Mytnaya Courtyard". But we filed a lawsuit against the Patriarch's Compound, because it is this organization that carries out trade. Not a fund, not the "Mytnaya Courtyard" LLC, but this organization. We consider this a more urgent problem, because all firms and funds that are created at the church - they exist as some adhesive. In the trade itself, I do not see anything bad, since the state allowed, but we believe that everything should be done under the legislation. Now everything is actually done without documents-there is some kind of aunt behind the counter, which can not even explain how many years she works here and who the boss has, and sells something ...

- How do you assess the prospects of the lawsuit?

Refused in the first instance. The law, of course, is on our side, but since we do not have an independent judicial system, and the church is affiliated with the state, they will most likely refuse. We simply do not neglect the very possibility of judicial protection and appeal to the judicial authorities in order to attract the attention of the public and somehow influence this situation.

There were no Publicpost failed to contact the representatives of the Patriarch Compound organization - there are no contacts of the “Compound” in the public domain. We called the reception of the " Foundation of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior ", but there we categorically refused to comment on the situation. According to the secretary, the fund simply does not have a press service.

The Moscow Patriarchate said that the Russian Orthodox Church has nothing to do with the secular institutions of the complex of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. According to the head of the legal service of the Patriarchate of the Monki Ksenia, the temple and the lands adjacent to it are owned by Moscow, and only two temple premises and several small rooms for placing clawers and accounting - less than a third of all areas belong to the Patriarchal Compound. “We have nothing to do with the laundry, car wash, parking, various trading kiosks and other institutions,” she emphasized.