The wealth of Patriarch Kirill: how the head of the Russian Orthodox Church earned capital. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' did not waste time in vain in the nineties: his professional portfolio includes the organization of tobacco, oil, automobile and food businesses. According to various estimates, all this hectic activity brought the head of the Russian Orthodox Church capital of 1.5-4 billion dollars. Now the patriarch has at his disposal an apartment in the famous “House on the Embankment”, a Breguet watch worth about 30 thousand euros, palaces in Peredelkino and Gelendzhik, as well as a personal fleet. Novaya Gazeta published on its pages incriminating evidence against the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, in to the world - Gundyaev Vladimir Mikhailovich. According to the newspaper, in the 90s the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, being a modest head of the Department of External Affairs church connections(DECR MP), was actively involved in business, thanks to which he made a fortune of several billion. Yes, not rubles, but dollars.

The patriarch's business career began in 1993. Then, with the participation of the Moscow Patriarchate, the financial and trading group “Nika” arose, the vice-president of which was Archpriest Vladimir Veriga, commercial director of the DECR MP. A year later, under the government of the Russian Federation and at the same time in the OSCC, two commissions on humanitarian aid appeared: the first decided what assistance could be exempt from taxes and excise taxes, and the second imported this assistance through the church and sold it to commercial structures. Thus, most of tax-exempt aid was distributed through the regular trade network at regular market prices.

Through this channel, in 1996 alone, the DECR imported about 8 billion cigarettes into the country (data from the government commission on humanitarian aid). This caused serious damage to the “tobacco kings” of that time, who were forced to pay duties and excise taxes and therefore lost in the competition of the DECR MP.

According to the doctor historical sciences Sergei Bychkov, who published several articles about the patriarch’s tobacco business, when Kirill decided to leave this business, more than $50 million worth of “church” cigarettes remained in customs warehouses. During the criminal war, in particular, an assistant to deputy Zhirinovsky, a certain Zen, was killed for these cigarettes.

And here is a letter from the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation to the Moscow Customs Administration dated February 8, 1997, regarding “church” cigarettes: “In connection with the appeal of the Commission on International Humanitarian and Technical Assistance under the Government of the Russian Federation and the decision of the Chairman of the Government dated January 29, 1997 No. VCh-P22/38 authorize customs clearance tobacco products in accordance with the established procedure with payment only of excise duty received at customs territory until 01.01.97, according to the decision of the above-mentioned Commission.”

So, in fact, since then he has been assigned to Metropolitan Kirill new title“Tobacco,” writes Novaya Gazeta, clarifying that now they no longer call him that. Nowadays it is customary to call the patriarch “Lyzhneg” - with light hand Orthodox bloggers who drew attention to the enormous importance in the life and work of Kirill of his passion for alpine skiing (this hobby is served by a villa in Switzerland and a private jet, and in Krasnaya Polyana it helps to consolidate informal relationships with strongmen of the world this).

By the way, Kirill himself once tried to justify his participation in the tobacco business: “The people who were involved in this did not know what to do: burn these cigarettes or send them back? We turned to the government, and it made a decision: recognize this as a humanitarian cargo and provide the opportunity to implement it.” Government representatives categorically denied this information, after which Patriarch Alexy II liquidated the DECR MP commission and created a new ROC MP Commission on humanitarian assistance, headed by Bishop Alexy (Frolov).

In addition to the aforementioned Nika Fund, DECR MP was the founder of the commercial bank Peresvet, JSC International Economic Cooperation (IEC), JSC Free People's Television (SNT) and a number of other structures. Kirill’s most profitable business after 1996 was the export of oil through the MES, which was exempt from customs duties at the request of Alexy II. Kirill was represented at the MES by Bishop Victor (Pyankov), who now lives as a private citizen in the USA. The company's annual turnover in 1997 was about $2 billion.

Due to the confidentiality of this information, it is now difficult to understand whether Kirill continues to participate in the oil business, but there is one very eloquent fact. A few days before the start of the US military operation against Saddam Hussein, Kirill’s deputy, Bishop Feofan (Ashurkov), flew to Iraq.

In 2000, information was made public about Metropolitan Kirill’s attempts to penetrate the market of marine biological resources (caviar, crabs, seafood) - the relevant government structures allocated quotas for catching Kamchatka crab and shrimp to the company established by the hierarch (JSC Region) (total volume - more than 4 thousand tons).

According to Kaliningrad journalists, Metropolitan Kirill, as the ruling bishop of the ROC MP diocese in the Kaliningrad region, participated in an automobile joint venture in Kaliningrad. It is characteristic that Kirill, even after becoming patriarch, did not appoint a diocesan bishop to the Kaliningrad see, leaving it under his direct control.

In 2004, Nikolai Mitrokhin, a researcher at the Center for Shadow Economy Research at the Russian State University for the Humanities, published a monograph on the shadow economic activities of the Russian Orthodox Church MP. The value of the assets controlled by Metropolitan Kirill was estimated in this work at $1.5 billion. Two years later, journalists from Moscow News tried to count the assets of the head of the church Ministry of Foreign Affairs and came to the conclusion that they already totaled $4 billion.

And according to The New Times, in 2002, Metropolitan Kirill bought a penthouse in the “House on the Embankment” overlooking the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This, by the way, is “the only apartment in Moscow registered specifically in the name of the metropolitan by his secular surname Gundyaev, about which there is a corresponding entry in the cadastral register.”

Another attribute of this life that has become the subject of widespread discussion is a Breguet watch worth about 30 thousand euros, which Ukrainian journalists photographed on the patriarch’s left hand next to the monastic rosary. This happened the day after Kirill pompously broadcast in live main Ukrainian TV channels: “It is very important to learn Christian asceticism... Asceticism is the ability to regulate one’s consumption... This is a person’s victory over lust, over passions, over instinct. And it is important that both rich and poor possess this quality.”

The luxurious motorcades of Patriarch Kirill and the security services from the Federal Protective Service that he uses have become the talk of the town. In Moscow, when the patriarch is driving, all the streets along his route are blocked, which naturally causes mass indignation among car owners. In Ukraine, Kirill’s half-kilometer motorcades completely shocked local residents: in the neighboring country, even the president travels much more modestly.

We must, however, give Kirill his due: for official visits he charters planes from Transaero, and uses his personal fleet only for personal purposes.

A separate and almost inexhaustible topic is the palaces and residences of the patriarch. Kirill strives to keep up with the top officials of the state in this matter. The newly built palace in Peredelkino was considered his permanent residential residence, for which several houses of local residents were demolished. From the windows of trains in the Kyiv direction, it looks like a large Russian tower - like the Terem Palace in the Kremlin. Kirill doesn’t like living there: the railway passing next door worries him.

Therefore, the current patriarch ordered to redecorate the palace in the Danilov Monastery, which did not look poor before. The construction of the patriarchal palace in Gelendzhik was not without scandals, which primarily aroused the indignation of local environmentalists.

The scandal surrounding the patriarch’s Gelendzhik dacha first broke out a year ago, when activists from the “Ecological Watch” in the North Caucasus entered the territory of the facility under construction. During the inspection, they found out that at least 10 hectares of a unique forest are enclosed by a three-meter fence, and in the center there is a strange “pretentious” building, topped with domes - something between a temple and a mansion.

At the same time, according to the data “ Novaya Gazeta", in 2004, the Russian Orthodox Church received at its disposal a plot of land with an area of ​​only 2 hectares. Moreover, this land belonged to the Forest Fund; accordingly, it was prohibited by law to erect permanent buildings on this land. However, large-scale construction began here. Environmentalists claim that during construction, 5 to 10 hectares of valuable forest were cut down, which is confirmed by images from space.

The Russian Orthodox Church hastened to refute the arguments of the “greens”. The Moscow Patriarchate referred to the act of Rospotrebnadzor, according to which no facts of illegal logging were recorded on the territory of the Spiritual and Cultural Center. Environmentalists, in turn, point to the fact that the document was drawn up in December 2010 - that is, several years after the destruction of the forest.

Another scandal surrounding the patriarch’s dacha, again initiated by environmentalists, broke out in October of last year. Then activists said that the fire that broke out at the end of September of the same year on the territory of the Spiritual and Cultural Center of the Moscow Patriarchate could have been the result of arson. As Novaya noted then, according to the law, builders are required to pay monetary compensation in the hundreds of thousands of rubles for destroyed trees. And if the trees burned down in a fire, then payment of compensation can be avoided.

At the beginning of 2011, information appeared in the press that the Russian Orthodox Church facility under construction near Gelendzhik was nothing more than a dacha for the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill. However, the information department of the Moscow Patriarchate refuted these arguments, saying that the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church in southern Russia is being built on this site, along with the existing centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The welfare of the Orthodox Church rests not only on considerable assistance from the state, the generosity of patrons and donations from the flock - the Russian Orthodox Church also has its own business. But where the earnings are spent is still a secret

​The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), Patriarch Kirill, spent half of February on long journeys. Negotiations with the Pope in Cuba, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, landing on Waterloo Island near the Antarctic coast, where Russian polar explorers from the Bellingshausen station live surrounded by Gentoo penguins.

To travel to Latin America The patriarch and about a hundred accompanying people used the Il-96-300 aircraft with tail number RA-96018, which is operated by the Special Flight Detachment “Russia”. This airline is subordinate to the presidential administration and serves the top officials of the state ().

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill at the Russian Bellingshausen station on the Island of Waterloo (Photo: Press service of the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church/TASS)

The authorities provide the head of the Russian Orthodox Church not only with air transport: the decree on allocating state security to the patriarch was one of the first decisions of President Vladimir Putin. Three of the four residences - in Chisty Lane in Moscow, Danilov Monastery and Peredelkino - were provided to the church by the state.

However, the ROC's income is not limited to the assistance of the state and big business. The church itself has learned to earn money.

RBC understood how the economy of the Russian Orthodox Church works.

Layered cake

“From an economic point of view, the Russian Orthodox Church is a gigantic corporation that unites tens of thousands of independent or semi-independent agents under a single name. They are every parish, monastery, priest,” he wrote in his book “The Russian Orthodox Church: current state And actual problems» sociologist Nikolai Mitrokhin.

Indeed, unlike many public organizations, each parish is registered as a separate legal entity and religious NPO. Church income for conducting rites and ceremonies is not subject to taxation, and proceeds from the sale of religious literature and donations are not taxed. At the end of each year, religious organizations draw up a declaration: according to the latest data provided to RBC by the Federal Tax Service, in 2014 the church’s non-taxable income tax amounted to 5.6 billion rubles.

In the 2000s, Mitrokhin estimated the entire annual income of the Russian Orthodox Church at approximately $500 million, but the church itself rarely and reluctantly talks about its money. At the 1997 Council of Bishops, Patriarch Alexy II reported that the ROC received the bulk of its money from “managing its temporarily free funds, placing them in deposit accounts, purchasing government short-term bonds” and other securities, and from the income of commercial enterprises.

Three years later, Archbishop Clement, in an interview with Kommersant-Dengi magazine, will say for the first and last time what the church economy consists of: 5% of the patriarchate’s budget comes from diocesan contributions, 40% from sponsorship donations, 55% comes from earnings from commercial enterprises of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Now there are fewer sponsorship donations, and deductions from dioceses can amount to a third or about half of the general church budget, explains Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who until December 2015 headed the department for relations between the church and society.

Church property

The confidence of an ordinary Muscovite in the rapid growth of the number of new Orthodox churches around does not greatly contradict the truth. Since 2009 alone, more than five thousand churches have been built and restored throughout the country, Patriarch Kirill announced these figures at the Council of Bishops in early February. These statistics include both churches built from scratch (mainly in Moscow; see how this activity is financed) and those given to the Russian Orthodox Church under the 2010 law “On the transfer of religious property to religious organizations.”

According to the document, Rosimushchestvo transfers objects to the Russian Orthodox Church in two ways - into ownership or under a free use agreement, explains Sergei Anoprienko, head of the department for the location of federal authorities of Rosimushchestvo.

RBC conducted an analysis of documents on the websites of territorial bodies of the Federal Property Management Agency - over the past four years, the Orthodox Church has received over 270 pieces of property in 45 regions (uploaded until January 27, 2016). The real estate area is indicated for only 45 objects - a total of about 55 thousand square meters. m. The largest object that became the property of the church is the ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitages.

A destroyed temple in the Kurilovo tract in the Shatura district of the Moscow region (Photo: Ilya Pitalev/TASS)

If real estate is transferred into ownership, Anoprienko explains, the parish receives a plot of land adjacent to the temple. Only church premises can be built on it - a utensils shop, a clergy house, a Sunday school, an almshouse, etc. It is prohibited to erect objects that can be used for economic purposes.

The Russian Orthodox Church received about 165 objects for free use, and about 100 for ownership, as follows from the data on the website of the Federal Property Management Agency. “Nothing surprising,” explains Anoprienko. “The church chooses free use, because in this case it can use government funding and count on subsidies for the restoration and maintenance of churches from the authorities. If the property is owned, all responsibility will fall on the Russian Orthodox Church.”

In 2015, the Federal Property Management Agency offered the Russian Orthodox Church to take 1,971 objects, but so far only 212 applications have been received, says Anoprienko. The head of the legal service of the Moscow Patriarchate, Abbess Ksenia (Chernega), is convinced that only destroyed buildings are given to churches. “When the law was discussed, we compromised and did not insist on restitution of property lost by the church. Now, as a rule, we are not offered a single normal building in large cities, but only ruined objects that require large expenses. We took a lot of destroyed churches in the 90s, and now, understandably, we wanted to get something better,” she says. The church, according to the abbess, will “fight for the necessary objects.”

The loudest battle is for St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg

St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg (Photo: Roshchin Alexander/TASS)

In July 2015, Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga addressed the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko with a request to give the famous Isaac for free use. This called into question the work of the museum located in the cathedral, a scandal ensued - the media wrote about the transfer of the monument on the front pages, a petition demanding to prevent the transfer of the cathedral collected over 85 thousand signatures on change.org.

In September, the authorities decided to leave the cathedral on the city's balance sheet, but Nikolai Burov, director of the St. Isaac's Cathedral museum complex (which includes three other cathedrals), is still waiting for a catch.

The complex does not receive money from the budget, 750 million rubles. He earns his annual allowance himself - from tickets, Burov is proud. In his opinion, the Russian Orthodox Church wants to open the cathedral only for worship, “jeopardizing free visits” to the site.

“Everything continues in the spirit of the “best Soviet” traditions - the temple is used as a museum, the museum management behaves like real atheists!” — counters Burov’s opponent, Archpriest Alexander Pelin from the St. Petersburg diocese.

“Why does the museum dominate the temple? Everything should be the other way around - first the temple, since this was originally intended by our pious ancestors,” the priest is outraged. The church, Pelin has no doubt, has the right to collect donations from visitors.

Budget money

“If you are supported by the state, you are closely connected with it, there are no options,” reflects priest Alexei Uminsky, rector of the Trinity Church in Khokhly. The current church interacts too closely with the authorities, he believes. However, his views do not coincide with the opinion of the leadership of the patriarchate.

According to RBC estimates, in 2012-2015, the Russian Orthodox Church and related structures received at least 14 billion rubles from the budget and from government organizations. Moreover, only in new version The budget for 2016 provides 2.6 billion rubles.

Next to the Sofrino trading house on Prechistenka there is one of the branches of the ASVT group of telecommunications companies. Parkhaev also owned 10.7% of the company until at least 2009. Co-founder of the company (through JSC Russdo) - co-chairman of the Union Orthodox women Anastasia Ositis, Irina Fedulova. ASVT's revenue for 2014 was over 436.7 million rubles, profit - 64 million rubles. Ositis, Fedulova and Parkhaev did not respond to questions for this article.

Parkhaev was listed as the chairman of the board of directors and owner of the Sofrino bank (until 2006 it was called Old Bank). The Central Bank revoked the license of this financial institution in June 2014. Judging by SPARK data, the owners of the bank are Alemazh LLC, Stek-T LLC, Elbin-M LLC, Sian-M LLC and Mekona-M LLC. According to the Central Bank, the beneficiary of these companies is Dmitry Malyshev, ex-chairman of the board of Sofrino Bank and representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in government bodies.

Immediately after the renaming of Old Bank to Sofrino, the Housing Construction Company (HCC), founded by Malyshev and partners, received several large contracts from the Russian Orthodox Church: in 2006, the Housing Construction Company won 36 competitions announced by the Ministry of Culture (formerly Roskultura) for the restoration temples. The total volume of contracts is 60 million rubles.

Parhaev’s biography from the website parhaev.com reports the following: born on June 19, 1941 in Moscow, worked as a turner at the Krasny Proletary plant, in 1965 he came to work at the Patriarchate, participated in the restoration of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and enjoyed the favor of Patriarch Pimen. Parkhaev’s activities are described not without picturesque details: “Evgeniy Alekseevich provided the construction with everything necessary,<…>solved all the problems, and trucks with sand, bricks, cement, and metal went to the construction site.”

Parkhaev’s energy, the unknown biographer continues, is enough to manage, with the blessing of the patriarch, the Danilovskaya Hotel: “This is a modern and comfortable hotel, in the conference hall of which local cathedrals, religious and peace conferences, and concerts are held. The hotel needed just such a leader: experienced and purposeful.”

The daily cost of a single room at Danilovskaya with breakfast on weekdays is 6,300 rubles, an apartment is 13 thousand rubles, services include a sauna, bar, car rental and organization of events. The income of Danilovskaya in 2013 was 137.4 million rubles, in 2014 - 112 million rubles.

Parkhaev is a man from the team of Alexy II, who managed to prove his indispensability to Patriarch Kirill, RBC’s interlocutor in the company producing church products is sure. The permanent head of Sofrino enjoys privileges that even prominent priests are deprived of, confirms an RBC source in one of the large dioceses. In 2012, photographs from Parkhaev’s anniversary appeared on the Internet - the holiday was celebrated with pomp in the hall of the church councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. After this, the guests of the hero of the day went by boat to Parkhaev’s dacha in the Moscow region. The photographs, the authenticity of which no one has disputed, show an impressive cottage, a tennis court and a pier with boats.

From cemeteries to T-shirts

The sphere of interests of the Russian Orthodox Church includes medicines, jewelry, renting out conference rooms, Vedomosti wrote, and also Agriculture and the market for funeral services. According to the SPARK database, the Patriarchate is a co-owner of Orthodox Ritual Service CJSC: the company is now closed, but a subsidiary established by it, Orthodox Ritual Service OJSC, is operating (revenue for 2014 - 58.4 million rubles).

The Ekaterinburg diocese owned a large granite quarry "Granit" and the security company "Derzhava", the Vologda diocese had a factory of reinforced concrete products and structures. The Kemerovo diocese is the 100% owner of Kuzbass Investment and Construction Company LLC, a co-owner of the Novokuznetsk Computer Center and the Europe Media Kuzbass agency.

In the Danilovsky Monastery in Moscow there are several retail outlets: the monastery shop and the Danilovsky Souvenir store. You can buy church utensils, leather wallets, T-shirts with Orthodox prints, and Orthodox literature. The monastery does not disclose financial indicators. On the territory of the Sretensky Monastery there is a store “Sretenie” and a cafe “Unholy Saints”, named after the book of the same name by the abbot, Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov). The cafe, according to the bishop, “doesn’t bring in any money.” The main source of income for the monastery is publishing. The monastery owns land in the agricultural cooperative “Resurrection” (the former collective farm “Voskhod”; the main activity is the cultivation of grain and legumes, and livestock). Revenue for 2014 was 52.3 million rubles, profit was about 14 million rubles.

Finally, since 2012, structures of the Russian Orthodox Church have owned the building of the Universitetskaya Hotel in the southwest of Moscow. The cost of a standard single room is 3 thousand rubles. The pilgrimage center of the Russian Orthodox Church is located in this hotel. “In the “University” there is Big hall, you can hold conferences and accommodate people who come to events. The hotel, of course, is cheap, very simple people stay there, very rarely bishops,” Chapnin told RBC.

Church cash desk

Archpriest Chaplin was unable to realize his long-standing idea - a banking system that eliminated usurious interest. While Orthodox banking exists only in words, the Patriarchate uses the services of the most ordinary banks.

Until recently, the church had accounts in three organizations - Ergobank, Vneshprombank and Peresvet Bank (the latter is also owned by structures of the Russian Orthodox Church). The salaries of employees of the Synodal Department of the Patriarchate, according to RBC's source in the Russian Orthodox Church, were transferred to accounts in Sberbank and Promsvyazbank (the banks' press services did not respond to RBC's request; a source close to Promsvyazbank said that the bank, among other things, holds church funds parishes).

Ergobank served more than 60 Orthodox organizations and 18 dioceses, including the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the Compound of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. In January, the bank's license was revoked due to a hole discovered in its balance sheet.

The church agreed to open accounts with Ergobank because of one of its shareholders, Valery Meshalkin (about 20%), explains RBC’s interlocutor in the patriarchate. “Meshalkin is a church man, an Orthodox businessman who helped churches a lot. It was believed that this was a guarantee that nothing would happen to the bank,” the source describes.

Ergobank office in Moscow (Photo: Sharifulin Valery/TASS)

Valery Meshalkin is the owner of the construction and installation company Energomashcapital, a member of the board of trustees of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and the author of the book “The Influence of the Holy Mount Athos on the Monastic Traditions of Eastern Europe.” Meshalkin did not answer RBC's questions. As a source in Ergobank told RBC, money was withdrawn from the accounts of the ROC structure before the license was revoked.

In what turned out to be no less problematic, 1.5 billion rubles. ROC, a source in the bank told RBC and was confirmed by two interlocutors close to the patriarchate. The bank's license was also revoked in January. According to one of RBC's interlocutors, the chairman of the board of the bank, Larisa Marcus, was close to the patriarchate and its leadership, so the church chose this bank to store part of its money. According to RBC's interlocutors, in addition to the Patriarchate, several funds that carried out the instructions of the Patriarch kept funds in Vneshprombank. The largest is the Foundation of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen. An RBC source in the Patriarchate said that the foundation collected money to help victims of the conflicts in Syria and Donetsk. Information about fundraising is also available on the Internet.

The founders of the fund are Anastasia Ositis and Irina Fedulova, already mentioned in connection with the Russian Orthodox Church. In the past - at least until 2008 - Ositis and Fedulova were shareholders of Vneshprombank.

However, the main bank of the church is the Moscow Peresvet. As of December 1, 2015, the bank’s accounts contained funds of enterprises and organizations (RUB 85.8 billion) and individuals(RUB 20.2 billion). Assets as of January 1 - 186 billion rubles, more than half of which are loans to companies, bank profit - 2.5 billion rubles. There are over 3.2 billion rubles in the accounts of non-profit organizations, as follows from the reporting of Peresvet.

The financial and economic management of the ROC owns 36.5% of the bank, another 13.2% is owned by the ROC-owned company Sodeystvie LLC. Other owners include Vnukovo-invest LLC (1.7%). The office of this company is located at the same address as Assistance. An employee of Vnukovo-invest could not explain to an RBC correspondent whether there was a connection between his company and Sodeystvo. The phones at the Assistance office are not answered.

JSCB Peresvet could cost up to 14 billion rubles, and the share of ROC in the amount of 49.7%, presumably, up to 7 billion rubles, IFC Markets analyst Dmitry Lukashov calculated for RBC.

Investments and innovations

Not much is known about where ROC funds are invested by banks. But it is known for sure that the Russian Orthodox Church does not shy away from venture investments.

Peresvet invests money in innovative projects through the Sberinvest company, in which the bank owns 18.8%. Funding for innovation is shared: 50% of the money is provided by Sberinvest investors (including Peresvet), 50% by state corporations and foundations. Funds for projects co-financed by Sberinvest were found in the Russian Venture Company (the press service of RVC refused to name the amount of funds), the Skolkovo Foundation (the fund invested 5 million rubles in developments, a representative of the fund said) and the state corporation Rusnano (on Sberinvest projects have been allocated $50 million, a press service employee said).

The press service of the RBC state corporation explained: to finance joint projects with Sberinvest, it was created in 2012 international fund"Nanoenergo". Rusnano and Peresvet each invested $50 million into the fund.

In 2015, the Rusnano Capital Fund S.A. — subsidiary Rusnano appealed to the District Court of Nicosia (Cyprus) with a request to recognize Peresvet Bank as a co-defendant in the case of violation of the investment agreement. IN statement of claim(available to RBC) it is said that the bank, in violation of procedures, transferred “$90 million from the accounts of Nanoenergo to the accounts of Russian companies, affiliated with Sberinvest. The accounts of these companies were opened in Peresvet.

The court recognized Peresvet as one of the co-defendants. Representatives of Sberinvest and Rusnano confirmed to RBC the existence of a lawsuit.

“This is all some kind of nonsense,” Oleg Dyachenko, a member of the board of directors of Sberinvest, does not lose heart in a conversation with RBC. — We have good energy projects with Rusnano, everything is going on, everything is moving—a composite pipe plant has fully entered the market, at a very high level silicon dioxide, we process rice, we get heat, we have reached an export position.” In response to the question of where the money went, the top manager laughs: “You see, I’m free. So the money wasn’t lost.” Dyachenko believes that the case will be closed.

The press service of Peresvet did not respond to RBC’s repeated requests. The chairman of the board of the bank, Alexander Shvets, did the same.

Income and expenses

“Since Soviet times, the church economy has been opaque,” ​​explains rector Alexei Uminsky, “it is built on the principle of a public service center: parishioners give money for some service, but no one is interested in how it is distributed. And the parish priests themselves don’t know exactly where the money they collect goes.”

Indeed, it is impossible to calculate church expenses: the Russian Orthodox Church does not announce tenders and does not appear on the government procurement website. In economic activities, the church, says Abbess Ksenia (Chernega), “does not hire contractors”, managing on its own - food is supplied by monasteries, candles are melted by workshops. The multi-layered pie is divided within the Russian Orthodox Church.

“What does the church spend on?” - the abbess asks again and answers: “Theological seminaries throughout Russia are maintained, this is a fairly large share of the expenses.” The church also provides charitable assistance orphans and others social institutions; all synodal departments are financed from the general church budget, she adds.

The Patriarchate did not provide RBC with data on the expenditure items of its budget. In 2006, in the Foma magazine, Natalya Deryuzhkina, at that time an accountant for the Patriarchate, estimated the costs of maintaining the Moscow and St. Petersburg theological seminaries at 60 million rubles. in year.

Such expenses are still relevant today, confirms Archpriest Chaplin. Also, the priest clarifies, it is necessary to pay salaries to the secular staff of the patriarchate. In total, this is 200 people with an average salary of 40 thousand rubles. per month, says RBC’s source in the patriarchy.

These expenses are insignificant compared to the annual contributions of the dioceses to Moscow. What happens to all the rest of the money?

A few days after the scandalous resignation, Archpriest Chaplin opened an account on Facebook, where he wrote: “Understanding everything, I consider concealing income and especially expenses of the central church budget to be completely immoral. Not the slightest Christian justification such a concealment cannot exist in principle.”

There is no need to disclose the items of expenditure of the Russian Orthodox Church, since it is absolutely clear what the church spends money on - for church needs, the chairman of the synodal department for relations between the church and society and the media, Vladimir Legoida, reproached the RBC correspondent.

How do other churches live?

It is not customary to publish reports on the income and expenses of a church, regardless of denominational affiliation.

Dioceses of Germany

The exception recently has been the Roman Catholic Church(RCC), partially disclosing income and expenses. Thus, the dioceses of Germany began to disclose their financial indicators after the scandal with the Bishop of Limburg, for whom they began to build a new residence in 2010. In 2010, the diocese valued the work at €5.5 million, but three years later the cost almost doubled to €9.85 million. To avoid claims in the press, many dioceses began to disclose their budgets. According to reports, the budget of the RCC dioceses consists of property income, donations, as well as church taxes, which are levied on parishioners. According to 2014 data, the diocese of Cologne became the richest (its income is €772 million, tax revenue is €589 million). According to the plan for 2015, the total expenditures of the diocese were estimated at 800 million.

Vatican Bank

Data on the financial transactions of the Institute of Religious Affairs (IOR, Istituto per le Opere di Religione), better known as the Vatican Bank, is now being published. The bank was created in 1942 to manage the financial resources of the Holy See. The Vatican Bank published its first financial report in 2013. According to the report, in 2012 the bank's profit amounted to €86.6 million, a year earlier - €20.3 million. Net interest income was €52.25 million, income from trading activities was €51.1 million.

Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR)

Unlike Catholic dioceses, reports on the income and expenses of the ROCOR are not published. According to Archpriest Peter Kholodny, who was the treasurer of the ROCOR for a long time, the economy of the foreign church is structured simply: parishes pay contributions to the dioceses of the ROCOR, and they transfer the money to the Synod. The percentage of annual contributions for parishes is 10%; 5% is transferred from dioceses to the Synod. The wealthiest dioceses are in Australia, Canada, Germany, and the USA.

The main income of the ROCOR, according to Kholodny, comes from renting out the four-story Synod building: it is located in the upper part of Manhattan, on the corner of Park Avenue and 93rd Street. The area of ​​the building is 4 thousand square meters. m, 80% is occupied by the Synod, the rest is rented private school. Annual rental income, according to Kholodny’s estimates, is about $500 thousand.

In addition, the ROCOR's income comes from the Kursk Root Icon (located in the ROCOR Cathedral of the Sign in New York). The icon is taken all over the world, donations go to the budget of the foreign church, explains Kholodny. The ROCOR Synod also owns a candle factory near New York. The ROCOR does not transfer money to the Moscow Patriarchate: “Our church is much poorer than the Russian one. Although we own incredibly valuable tracts of land—particularly half of the Garden of Gethsemane—it is not monetized in any way.”

With the participation of Tatyana Aleshkina, Yulia Titova, Svetlana Bocharova, Georgy Makarenko, Irina Malkova

“How much does a priest earn on average in big city? - our readers, perhaps future priests, ask. There are very contradictory figures on the Internet.

I remember that the first time I directly came into contact with the salary of a clergyman was in Cyprus, with Father Sergius Kozlov - I planned to live there and, accordingly, do what I loved. The temple itself belongs to the Trimifuta diocese, but in fact it is a temple of the Russian community, and services are conducted according to the rite of the Russian Orthodox Church. Priest Sergius Kozlov studied at the academy in Sergiev Posad, and later in Greece at the University of Thessalonia at the Faculty of Theology, which, accordingly, determined the choice of the current Patriarch Kirill about his appointment. In fact, the priest lived rather poorly, and since services were held according to Sundays, he was forced to earn extra money in other places. Accordingly, he could not pay the rest of the clergy. “You need to find the job you did in Russia,” I remembered his words.

For comparison, we can cite the salaries of priests in other countries. As you know, in Belarus they earn on average about 24 thousand rubles, in Ukraine - 32 thousand, in Greece about 40, in Italy and Spain - about 56 thousand (translated into our ruble), in France - about 65 thousand plus free housing. In Belgium, a novice priest will receive 120 thousand, and a more experienced one - up to 360 thousand rubles per month.

But let’s still return to Russian reality. " The parish priest receives a salary, the amount of which is determined by the parish council and depends on the financial situation of the parish. This can be either an amount sufficient to live on or the minimum wage.“,” Father Andrei Efanov, dean of the Kineshma diocese, deftly answers. Well, how could it be otherwise? But the whole point is that the salary of a priest is completely arbitrary.

“There is a colossal stratification among priests. It's like oligarchy and poverty. This is the most vulnerable part of society“, says Archimandrite Savva Tutunov. " The salary of priests in Russia depends on their superior“,” echoes the neighboring site. " Nowadays, our clergyman is supported by the parish. And a priest’s salary is the salary he receives as a result of serving in a particular parish. We do not have any distribution of salaries in the dioceses. And even more so, as in some countries, there are no government salaries for the clergy“,” explains Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, deputy head of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, rector of the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in Moscow.

And indeed it is.

« Wow, what a salary, even priests don’t get that much“,” one rural priest later answered me when they offered me altar service for 30 thousand rubles a month. But in the tourist city next to me, an ordinary priest can receive up to 200 thousand a month. But this is only for the season: in the remaining months he will receive 15 and live on what he saved in the summer. And the rural priest I mentioned does not receive a salary at all, since the parish is unprofitable and he lives only on funds from his part-time work.

One of LJ’s personal diaries gives a general idea of ​​the situation:

Rural parishes collect on average monthly (attention!) ~20 thousand rubles. Of which about 7 thousand goes for utilities in winter, you definitely need to pay some kind of diocesan tax. In rural parishes, the same car for a priest is not a luxury, but a severe necessity; its maintenance (gasoline, for example) is paid for from there. The meager salary goes to another 2-3 people who serve the parish, like the watchman. And there is 5-10 thousand left for the priest’s salary... What if there are 10 grannies in the parish? They look for a way out in different ways. Those who are more enterprising will organize a household plot or even a small production factory (I read about such a case on a special forum).

It is clear that in this situation it is very difficult to name the exact amount or at least determine the pricing method. Perhaps a more emotional explanation in the form of one comment will help - an answer to a similar question on the authoritative portal “Orthodoxy and the World”:

A huge number of Moscow priests quietly, calmly, falling from their feet from fatigue, do their job; They live in panel houses with their numerous children and mothers, who solve everyday problems in the same way: what to feed, what to wear. Thank God, the parishioners are helping out. And at the same time, many priests drive foreign cars... Those who don’t look in the mouth: they gave a spiritual child: it’s no longer profitable to sell, and the priest will be happy (he even killed such a one (but appearance no matter where!) he won’t be able to buy it), and you see, all his life he and the whole family will pray to God for him. It happens in different ways... I once met a priest from my parish in a minibus, at 22 o'clock, he was returning home from services... And the deacon's family on a brand new Mercedes bus, which was given to their family in Germany - they went there to sing, so the Germans were moved, yes and gave it as a gift. 11 person family! Shall we envy? Just what: that the car is a luxury car, or that there are 9 children in the family? A large family has its black sheep.

In the understanding of the average Russian, the word “priest” means “servant of the church.” According to church terminology, a priest is called a presbyter (translated from Greek language- “elder, head of the community”), one who has the right to conduct sacred rituals - prayers, communion, baptism and others.

The priesthood is a sacrament, that is, a special ritual of initiation by the church of certain (elected) Christians into clergy and clergy who perform various duties. Clergy are a deacon, priest, bishop, and clergy are a reader, singer, subdeacon. For such people, studying at a university and a diploma with excellent grades is not enough; they cannot declare themselves clergy. In order for a Christian to receive this title, the bishop performs an ordination ceremony with him, which gives him special authority over the performance of the sacraments.

Where do they train to become priests?

There are educational institutions in Russia that teach to become clergy (priests). The most famous universities are the Moscow Theological Seminary, the Trinity-Sergius Academy in Moscow, the Theological Academy in St. Petersburg, the Russian Orthodox University and others. Total in Russian Federation There are 8 Orthodox institutes, 50 theological seminaries, 32 theological schools and 1 church-wide postgraduate and doctoral studies named after. Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The seminary course takes five years, during which students receive basic theological knowledge: introduction to theology, catechism (fundamentals of faith), Bible story, comparative theology, sectology, dogmatics, pastoral pedagogy, etc. Studying a course in psychology is mandatory. All this knowledge will be necessary for further service in the parish church, for the correct observance of church traditions, and the ability to communicate with others.

Requirements for a priest

To become a priest, a number of conditions must be met:

1. Age after 30 years.
2. Married only once.
3. Become one of the parishioners.
4. Have recommendations from an already serving priest.
5. Complete your studies first at a theological school, then at a seminary (if desired, at an academy).

In addition, the Christian preparing to become a priest should carefully study Holy Bible, creations of the Church Fathers, acts Ecumenical Councils etc., pray constantly, attend church, learn the Church Slavonic language, take care of your appearance.

A priest works primarily with people, so he must have such universal human qualities as:

• goodwill;
• responsiveness;
• openness;
• cordiality;
• honesty;
• decency;
• integrity.

The book “The Sacrament of the Priesthood” describes the main conditions according to which a candidate cannot be a clergyman:

1. Incapacity for the priesthood:
   • absolute (manifests itself in unbaptized people and women);
   • relative (if there is some deficiency that prevents the priesthood).
2. Physical obstacles:
   • age restrictions (up to 30 years);
   • health status (deaf, blind).
3. Spiritual obstacles:
   • conversion;
   • converted from heresy.
4. Social obstacles:
   • marital status (single marriage, marriage to a non-Christian or non-Orthodox woman);
   • responsibility to the state (person liable for military service who has lost his civil freedom);
   • reputation before people (loan sharks, actors, etc.).

But the most important requirement for a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Church) is faith. After all, a priest, as a mediator between people and God, needs to pray, perform divine services, and this should be done with with an open heart and a pure soul, which requires a lot of work on oneself - rigor, exactingness. An important role in the work of any clergyman is played by the ability to build relationships with parishioners, believers and non-believers.

Duties of clergy

The priest is obliged to perform six of the seven sacraments of the church:

1. Baptism is a rite through which a person becomes a member of the church community and gains the opportunity to take part in other sacred rites and sacraments.
2. Confirmation is a rite of conscious confession of religion, drawing a schematic image of a cross on the forehead of the believer.
3. Communion is the Eucharist; during this ritual, consecrated bread and wine are served as the Body and Blood of the Lord.
4. Confession is repentance of sins before the priest.
5. A wedding is a ceremony of blessing a marriage between a man and a woman in the face of God for eternal love and fidelity.
6. Unction - Blessing of Anointing, is carried out by several priests (namely 7, the so-called council) and is intended to cure spiritual illnesses.

In addition, during the service, the priest’s duties include conducting divine services, during which he prays for the whole world. He can also teach parishioners a pastoral blessing and teach them the truths of the Christian faith.

Priests are full-time, that is, they work 12-14 hours a day, every day, seven days a week. Each parish has a roughly similar working day schedule:

• 8:00 – proskomedia (the priest prepares everything necessary for communion);
• 8:30 – beginning of confession (lasts half an hour);
• 9:00 – liturgy;
• 10:00 – rite of communion;
• 10:20 – sermon;
• 10:30 – blessing of water and memorial service;
• 11:30 – lunch break;
• 12:00 – Baptism;
• 13:00 – wedding;
• 14:00 – funeral service;
• 14:40 – conversations with parishioners;
• 17:00 – evening service.

Also, a priest can serve on the road, so the schedule turns out to be irregular.

Monthly income of a priest in Rus'

In Rus', a priest received a certain amount of donations for his services, on which he lived with his family and equipped the temple. Later, due to the small amounts of voluntary donations, the church allowed the establishment of fixed recommended prices for a number of services provided by clergy. This move made it possible to plan the parish budget.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the income of priests consisted of land allotments and payments for church rites and services, two-thirds of which were received by psalm readers (readers and singers). Payment in natural products (eggs, flour, honey, etc.) was also accepted. The situation was further aggravated by the payment of tax deductions - 25% for the maintenance of religious educational institutions.

Salary of a Russian priest in 2019-2020.

IN modern Russia everything is a little different. Today, priests have the following personal documents:

• work book in which the position is recorded;
• number in the Pension Fund;
• health insurance.

All economic affairs in the Russian church are handled by the Financial and Economic Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate, created in 2009.

The income of any Russian temple consists of such received Money for services:

• sale of candles, utensils, books;
• donations for services (weddings, baptisms, prayer services, memorial services, funeral services, etc.);
• commemoration;
• donations during services.

These funds fall into the hands of the rector of the temple, who is responsible for their distribution - issues wages ministers and employees of the temple (including priests), pays contributions to the diocese (20%), makes payments for public utilities, allocates for the renovation of the building and the purchase of items for worship.

This total monthly amount may vary for each temple because it depends on a number of factors:

1. Parish location.
2. Number of parishioners.
3. The presence of wealthy parishioners.
4. Availability of sponsors and trustees.

The priest’s salary and its amount are set by the rector in the form fixed amount, which is focused on the average regional salary for social workers (psychologists, teachers, mid-level doctors). Today, the average salary of charitable and social workers is about 35 thousand rubles, teachers - 40 thousand rubles (in Moscow and the Moscow region).

In 2019, the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a document that was supposed to streamline the monthly income of Russian clergy. Based on it, a priest and his family who need financial support can receive financial assistance from a diocese (ecclesiastical administrative-territorial unit governed by a bishop). It also states that both clergy and clergy should have social protection, which is why commissions have been created to care for those in need. This situation works now and will continue to work in 2020.

Also read with this article:

Salaries in 2019-2020 of a criminal investigation officer Pathologist - salary in Moscow and Russian cities in 2019 What will be the salary of the Russian National Guard in 2019?

To the question: How much does Patriarch Kirill earn? given by the author Osokor the best answer is First Orthodox world I saw a watch on the wrist of Patriarch Kirill during a visit to Ukraine. On July 27 in Kyiv, when the patriarch bent down to the icon, Breguets appeared from under the armlet, on which the lens of the photographer of the Ukrainian site VIP.glavred Vladislav Musienko focused.
Their cost ranges from 28 thousand to 36 thousand euros.
The Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' has a classic model: the case is made of white gold, the strap is made of crocodile leather.
What is Kirill’s salary - a rhetorical question
And if we compare Jesus Christ, the Bible writes: “But Jesus said to him: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have places to sleep, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Vesel
Oracle
(55307)
Today there are no temples or priests on earth according to the Bible. There are only false ones

Answer from Someone from the crowd[guru]
Receives a pension.
Like a Russian pensioner.
At the Patriarchate box office.

Answer from Caucasian[active]
Whatever you say, they are bastards, forgive me for saying this, but the scribe...

Answer from R((())T.[guru]
Through eye of a needle will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the salary is too high for the Kingdom of Heaven. With such a salary, he has the Earthly Kingdom, which determines the Heavenly Kingdom.

Answer from speedster[guru]
more than 10 billion rubles

Answer from Denis Kovalev[newbie]
Yes, I think no more than the leaders of all sorts of pro-Christian sects. Only the patriarch does not need to hide because the Orthodox Church does not harm anyone. Where are your supreme leaders, gentlemen evangelists and other types of Christians? Or are they so ashamed that they prefer that no one knows them?

Answer from Ivan Rzhevsky[newbie]
As much as you can’t earn in a lifetime.

Answer from Rus rus[newbie]
he has already received it, and then he will receive it

Answer from SPACE[guru]
Don’t you all understand that monks have nothing, otherwise this person will no longer be a monk, but a simple person.
When taking tonsure, monks make a vow to God of non-covetousness (that is, not to have money), not to have a wife, not to eat meat.
Our His Holiness Patriarch a monk and he has nothing of his own, everything is government property, not his, but the property of the patriarchy. after the death of the patriarch, everything goes into the archive there. vestments, gifts and so on.

Answer from KISS ME IN THE TANK[guru]
First of all, you need to look after yourself

Answer from Yergey Matveev[guru]
He is a monk, therefore he cannot have property. What kind of pay are we talking about?!

Answer from Hello again![guru]
Oh, why do you need to know this?... Are you jealous?... It’s not worth it, become someone yourself in this life, then you won’t be jealous of anyone!...

Answer from Cowboy[guru]
He is a monastic believer with feelings.
But the monk doesn’t need anything. Therefore, the patriarch has nothing.
And if anyone says that there is, he will be punished by the law of the Russian Federation.

Answer from Inokenty Voronov[guru]
that I lived like this))

Answer from Kuzdra Kievsky[guru]
What does he get?
Your spitting, insults?
He is the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, he is a monk. He has everything he needs. If it weren’t, tens of millions of people would immediately provide him with everything.
He works selflessly for the good of the Church and Russia, lives in such a stressful regime that the healthiest and youngest person cannot stand it without God’s help.