An agreement was signed between the UIN of the Tambov Regional Department of the Ministry of Justice of Russia and the local diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The agreement provides for the construction of temples on the territory of prisons and colonies in the Tambov region. During 2003, 70 people were baptized in the correctional institutions of the region, about 700 prisoners took communion. Several clerics of the diocese are assigned to the institutions of the UIN.

The Saratov diocesan administration is trying to make the use of donations transparent. The website of the diocese published a report on the use of about 800 thousand rubles donated for the construction of the bell tower of the Intercession Cathedral. The issue of control over the use of funds was raised by entrepreneurs - the founders of the non-profit foundation "Spiritual Renaissance".

Vedomosti published the opinions of several clergymen and experts on the draft law proposed by S. Glazyev "On the social partnership of the Church and the state." Historian Alexander Kamensky draws attention to the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church had a lot of property compared to other confessions.

**Round table at SOVA Center February 11, 2004 Abridged transcript** Active members: 1.

Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar appealed to Russian Jewry with an appeal to take part in the March 14 presidential elections. "Participation in democratic elections is not just a 'human right', but first of all the fulfillment of God's commandment," Berl Lazar believes. "If we want to be worthy of the tasks that the Almighty assigns to us, we are not just 'the right to choose', we are obliged to realize the freedom granted to us," the Chief Rabbi of Russia said.

The Supreme Court of Bashkiria banned the activities of the Dianetics Center public organization on the territory of the republic. According to Judge Valentina Karkalova, the verdict was issued at the suit of the republican prosecutor's office, which found that the organization did not have licenses to conduct educational and medical activities.

The Moscow City Duma supported the bill on taxation of religious organizations, previously approved by the Moscow government. According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the property of religious organizations used for religious activities is exempt from taxation. Other property (diocesan houses, religious and Sunday schools, hotels for pilgrims, property of subsidiary farms) is subject to taxation.

The Union of Orthodox Citizens, which previously opposed the election of Ekaterina Lakhova as chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family and Youth Affairs, has revised its position. On February 25, representatives of the SPG, the Life Center, psychologists Irina Medvedeva and Tatyana Shishova met with E. Lakhova.

A group of Orthodox residents of Samara sent a "selective order" to presidential candidate V. Putin with a request to cancel the TIN and the number of the pension certificate, to exclude the column "personal code" from the Russian passport, to refuse to use bar codes when marking goods.

Revered by believers, the elder, resident of Optina Hermitage, Shegigumen Iliy gave his blessing to the pilgrims to vote for Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections. was heard among the pilgrims arriving in Optina Pustyn .

At the beginning of March 2004, in Krasnodar, at the Slavic cemetery, 10 burials of Armenians and one of the Adygs were damaged. Teenagers who desecrated the graves were detained on March 7, 2004. Sources Defilers of Armenian graves detained // New news. 2004. March 10