“Subsidies to the from the Kremlin are a myth”: Deputy Poturaev refuted the financing of the UOC from Russia

The head of the parliamentary committee on humanitarian and information policy, Mykyta Poturayev, commented on the information about the alleged financing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Russia, which has been circulating widely in the biased media for several years. The deputy claims that despite the prevalence of this version, in reality, the UOC has almost always been supported by internal sources, namely patrons and ordinary believers. He announced this in a comment to the media.

«The financial capacity of the UOC-MP is based on feudal logic – wealthy patrons, property, and profitable monasteries. For example, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was a real gold mine, bringing in millions of dollars in tax-free profits per year. Pochaiv and Svyatogorsk are slightly smaller, but also very profitable. And despite all the stereotypes that the UOC (MP) is supported by direct subsidies from the Kremlin, the main sources of income for maintenance and Mercedes cars for the clergy have always been its own resources plus patrons such as Vadym Novynskyi. The OCU simply does not have such capital, there are no patrons of this level. The few that there are cannot support the entire system,» — said Poturaev.

We would like to remind you that earlier, Sergey Vozny, an activist of the OCU who organizes the seizure of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Kyiv region, said that Russia allegedly pays priests of the UOC to remain faithful to the canonical Church. According to Vozny, the amount that Russia pays to UOC clergy each month ranges from two to hundreds of thousands of US dollars.