Who finances the ROC. Incomes of the Russian Orthodox Church. Diocese assets: factories, computer centers, construction companies

A religious organization has benefits, but every one of them is key. She is completely exempt from paying:

That is, in fact, the ROC does not pay anything to the budget at all.

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation clearly stipulates: exemption is only from religious activity, and all commercial, even those carried out by the Russian Orthodox Church, are subject to compulsory taxation. Therefore, according to reports, the church does not carry out any commercial activities at all. According to a senior Russian official, in fact, they simply do not want to get involved with the church.

Chronicle of economic activity

2019: Seminar on project management, fundraising and crowdfunding

2018

Purchasing merchandise in China

Diocese assets: factories, computer centers, construction companies

OJSC "Ritual Orthodox Service"

According to the SPARK database, the patriarchy was a co-owner of the Orthodox Ritual Service CJSC. For 2016, the company was closed, but at this time the “daughter” established by it - JSC “Ritual Orthodox Service” (revenue for 2014 - 58.4 million rubles) is operating.

2015: Donations are less (4.03 billion rubles), and revenues increased by 27% to 1.79 billion rubles

On June 7, 2016, it became known that the ROC's income from ritual and ceremonial activities grew by 27%, and the volume of donations slightly decreased.

The revenues of religious organizations from "the performance of rituals and ceremonies", "the sale of religious literature and religious items" grew by 27% in 2015 and reached 1.79 billion rubles, the media reported, citing statistics from the Federal Tax Service.

The amount of donations from citizens and organizations "for the conduct of statutory activities" slightly decreased - by 3%, to 4.03 billion rubles.

In 2014, Russians donated more. Donations amounted to almost 4.2 billion rubles, but revenues from the sale of candles and icons, ceremonies reached 1.4 billion rubles.

The overwhelming share of these incomes relates only to the Russian Orthodox Church, since it is not customary in Islam to conduct religious rituals similar to those held in Russian churches. Therefore, donations from parishioners of other confessions are not included in the official statistics.

2012: Annual income of $ 100-150 million. The scheme of legal entities

2003-2010: Share 25% in the dealer of cars "BMW Rusland"

In the period from 2003 to 2010. JSC Vital, controlled by the Russian Orthodox Church, owned a quarter of BMW Rusland, but in 2010 the company was liquidated, and LLC BMW Rusland Trading was registered in its place.

2000: 55% of revenues are commercial enterprises

In 2000, Archbishop Clement, in an interview with Kommersant-Dengi magazine, for the first and last time, will tell you what the church economy is made up of:

• 5% of the budget of the patriarchate - deductions from the dioceses,
• 40% - sponsorship donations,
• 55% comes from the earnings of commercial enterprises of the Russian Orthodox Church.

1997: Deposits, government bonds and commercial enterprises

At the Bishops' Council in 1997, Patriarch Alexy II reported that the main part of the ROC's money came from "managing its temporarily free funds, placing them in deposit accounts, purchasing government short-term bonds" and others. valuable papers and from the income of commercial enterprises.

1990s: Import of cigarettes and trade in vodka

In the 1990s, the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church carried out duty-free import of cigarettes and trade in vodka.

Cinder symptom

When I was eight, and I ran away from home for the third time, having lived a day and a half on a wild apple tree in the forest, my parents, recovering from hysteria, sent me to an Orthodox Sunday school. That is why I was saved, that is, translating into the mundane language, I stopped hiding diaries with deuces and tying bulls from parental ashtrays at the request of the boys, exchanging this leisure for help in cleaning the temple, including extinguishing candle stubs.

The whole secret here is that at least half a centimeter remains from the candle - otherwise it will be difficult to get it out of the candlestick. And, knowing this secret, I was very surprised when a few months ago I noticed a grandmother in one of the half-empty temples of the Sergiev Posad Lavra, extinguishing half-burnt candles. I remembered that incident precisely because I did not find an explanation for him then.

But I found it now, taking up this material. It turned out that cinders are such a symptom. Symptom sickness of the church who can't figure out who she is - company"Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church", which manages huge assets, or the house of God. “All you find is just gossip,” all my Orthodox friends said in chorus. I found facts and made a conclusion about the symptom of the disease of the society, which, out of fear of disappointment, prefers turning a blind eye to problems, not solving them.

Stubs are sweet

The symptom of cinders has been described many times by bloggers. Here the girl describes how her own candle was extinguished. Here the girl was not allowed to light a candle, which was not bought in the temple. Why is this happening? The cinders are sent to be melted down, and new candles are made from them - this is not a secret. For example, the Ascension Church asks to bring cinders even from home candles to the church. The temple has its own benefits - it belongs to the Yekaterinodar diocese, which, according to the Federal State Statistics Service as of January 1, 2010, is one hundred percent owner "OTD Candle Workshop".

According to the same Rosstat, the Samara and Syzran dioceses have their own candle factories (this is the name of the Samara Diocesan Candle Workshop LLC), and the ROC directly has the KhPP Sofrino ROC LLC, which supplies candles to all of Moscow and the same Sergiev Posad Lavra. That is, in the churches of Samara and Moscow, there is also a risk of catching sidelong glances, going in with their candles. After all, this whole situation puts priests in an ambiguous position: as managers, they must take care of the material welfare of the parish, as the holy fathers - about the spiritual. The result of a hard internal struggle is compromise inscriptions like "Do not enter with other people's candles".

Another compromise between the spiritual and the material is the price tags for sacred ordinances: baptisms, funerals, weddings. According to Yandex statistics, most often people want to get married in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. I called to find out how much it will cost - it turns out, from 10 thousand rubles and only after an interview with the priest. In Yekaterinburg, where salaries are three times less, for the same wedding in the Novo-Tikhvin Monastery they ask three times less - 2800. In a situation where the father is a manager, the power given by God can become a commodity. This "product" of the Ascension Pechersky Monastery is sold, for example, directly through the online store. In my shopping cart "Eternal Remembrance" for 3000 rubles.

ROC Corporation

Saturday. Four o'clock in the evening. A church shop inside the small church of Elijah the Prophet near the Preobrazhenskaya Ploschad metro station. Woman with bag Calvin klein holds out two hundred-ruble bills and asks for six candles of 20 rubles each. The change is thrown into the box "For the restoration of the temple." Behind her, a grandmother in a polyester handkerchief holds out ruble coins and asks for two candles for a nickle each. This is the best proof that parishioners are not opposed to giving the church an opportunity to earn extra money. Church candle making with a diameter of up to 2 cm stands up to 1 ruble... In temples, the price of these candles reaches up to 15 rubles... So the profit reaches 1500% without taking into account the savings on the melting of candle stubs. But we humbly buy candles, considering the difference in price as our sacrifices to the church.

Information about the structure of the ROC's income is a secret, guarded more carefully than the work of the Baikonur cosmodrome. At least journalists are allowed there. The church's finances were publicly discussed only at bishops' councils, that up to half of the income is donations from individuals and companies. Where does the rest come from? Press service of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, as well as the Synodal Information Department did not answer to the questions for this article.

ROC is registered as a legal entity - non-profit religious organization "Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church". She directly owns, according to SPARK, 145 monasteries, churches and dioceses (which, in turn, also own churches and monasteries). All of them have the status of religious organizations. It allows do not pay taxes from the ground on which churches and monasteries stand, to the very buildings of churches and monasteries, finally, do not pay VAT from the sale of church books, candles, from funerals and baptisms.

The problem is that the law does not list specific objects that are exempt from taxes, but rather vague formulations are given - “religious purpose” and “religious activity”. Thanks to this, the church does not pay taxes not only on icons, but also, for example, from computers, as well as from factories belonging to it. Last thing - serious problem for the Federal Tax Service, which was even forced to draw the attention of its regional offices to the fact that at least land tax such factories have to pay ...

RBC investigation: what does the church live on?

"Welfare Orthodox Church rests not only on considerable help from the state, the generosity of patrons and donations from the flock - the ROC also has its own business. But where the earned money is spent is still a secret

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

To travel to Latin America, the patriarch and about a hundred escorts used an Il-96-300 aircraft with tail number RA-96018, which is operated by the Rossiya Special Flying Detachment. This airline is subordinate to the presidential administration and serves the top officials of the state (on the cost and circumstances of travel to Antarctica).

The authorities provide the head of the ROC not only with air transport: the decree on the allocation of state protection to the patriarch was one of the first decisions of President Vladimir Putin. Three of the four residences - in Moscow's Chisty Lane, Danilov Monastery and Peredelkino - are provided to the church by the state.

However, the income items of the ROC are not limited to the help 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 ROC 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, ”wrote in his book“ The Russian Orthodox Church: state of the art and actual problems ”sociologist Nikolai Mitrokhin.

Indeed, unlike many public organizations, each parish is registered as a separate legal entity and religious NGO. The income of the church from the conduct of rituals 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 by RBC to the Federal Tax Service, in 2014 the church's income tax-free income amounted to 5.6 billion rubles.

In the 2000s, Mitrokhin estimated the entire annual income of the Russian Orthodox Church at about $ 500 million, while the church itself rarely and reluctantly speaks about its money. At the Bishops' Council in 1997, Patriarch Alexy II reported that the main part of the ROC's money came from “managing its temporarily surplus 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, for the first and last time, will say what the church economy is made of: 5% of the patriarchate's budget comes from dioceses, 40% from sponsorship donations, 55% comes from the earnings of commercial enterprises of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Now sponsorship donations have decreased, and deductions from dioceses can make up 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 ...

Budget money

“If you are supported by the state, you are closely connected with it, there are no options,” says priest Aleksey 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 views of the leadership of the patriarchate.

According to RBC's estimates, in 2012-2015, the ROC 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.

In particular, as RBC wrote, in 2014-2015, the organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church were allocated over 1.8 billion rubles. for the creation and development of Russian spiritual and educational centers under the federal program “Strengthening the Unity of the Russian Nation and Ethnocultural Development of the Peoples of Russia”. Another program that supports the church is Culture of Russia: since 2012, almost 10.8 billion rubles have been allocated under the program to preserve religious sites. In addition, RUB 0.5 billion. in 2012-2015, it was allocated for the restoration of objects of religious significance, said a representative of the Department of Cultural Heritage of Moscow.

Among the major recipients of contracts on the public procurement website is the Orthodox Encyclopedia Church Research Center (founded by the Patriarchate), which publishes the 40-volume tome of the same name edited by Patriarch Kirill. Since 2012, public schools and universities have spent about 250 million rubles to purchase this book. A subsidiary of the Orthodox Encyclopedia, the Orthodox Encyclopedia Foundation, received 56 million rubles in 2013. from the Ministry of Culture - for the shooting of the films "Sergius of Radonezh" and "Snake Bite".

In 2015, the Ministry of Education allocated about 112 million rubles from the budget. Orthodox St. Tikhon University for the Humanities. The Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexis under the Moscow Patriarchate received 198 million rubles from the Ministry of Health in 2015; the new budget for the hospital provides for about 178 million rubles more. The 2016 budget provides for about 1 billion rubles. "The Charitable Foundation for the Restoration of the Resurrection New Jerusalem Stavropegic male monastery ROC "- the founder of the fund is the monastery itself.

In addition, from 2013 to 2015, Orthodox organizations received 256 million rubles. within the framework presidential grants... The ROC has no direct relation to the recipients of grants, they were simply “created by Orthodox people,” says Archpriest Chaplin. Although the church does not directly participate in the creation of such organizations, there are no random people there, Sergei Chapnin, the former editor of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, is sure.

According to the same principle, he says, money is distributed in the only Orthodox grant program, Orthodox Initiative (funds were allocated by Rosatom, two sources familiar with the program told RBC; the corporation's press service did not answer RBC's question).

"Orthodox Initiative" has been held since 2005, the total amount of funding over the years of the competition - almost 568 million rubles. "I AM long time sat on the expert committee. I can say that applications for grants, as a rule, are written inaccurately - from them it is not clear what people want and can, - says Chapnin. “Every second person invariably suggests making a website, not having a very good understanding of how websites are made.”

Among the Russian entrepreneurs who financially help the Russian Orthodox Church, there are both Forbes list members and middle-class entrepreneurs. Completely different projects are supported - cartoons ...

Income and income

The ecclesiastical economy is a rigid vertical, operating according to the principle of strict subordination, explains Priest Alexei Uminsky, the arrangement of another channel for the receipt of money in the Patriarchate.

At the last Council of Bishops, Patriarch Kirill announced that there are 293 dioceses and over 34.5 thousand churches in Russia. Churches donate a certain percentage of the donations received to the dioceses, explains Uminsky. Exceptions are churches under construction and being restored - according to Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov), they are temporarily exempted from diocesan contributions (an interview with the bishop can be read here). In all other churches, the collection of contributions is controlled by a higher bishop - he, in turn, reports to the patriarchate, two sources in the ROC explain to RBC.

The money of the church parish consists of donations for the fulfillment of requirements (baptism, weddings, consecration of cars, apartments and other items) and services (commemoration, reading of akathists). The bulk of the money goes to the parish treasury thanks to the candles necessary for all the rituals, explains Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev. The ROC has dozens of candle-casting workshops around the country, both from new material and from the cinders collected during the service. The cost of a candle in production and in the church differs tenfold: “to make a four-gram candle, one of the most popular, costs 25 kopecks. In the church they will give up to 20 rubles for it, "the manufacturer and supplier of church utensils confides with RBC.

The monthly income of Russian churches is very different - from 5 thousand to 3 million rubles, says Archpriest Chaplin.

The RBC correspondent talked with the priests of almost 30 churches, from their stories the scheme of financial relations of "grassroots" parishes with dioceses looks like this: after the service, the rectors open the boxes for donations, the money collected is kept by the treasurer. Parish rectors submit reports to the diocese (a copy of such a document from 2013, submitted to the Moscow diocese, is at the disposal of RBC). The paper indicates the number of services and services performed, as well as the amount of the contribution sent by the parish to the diocese - in the report studied by the RBC correspondent, this is 20%.

The percentage of deductions, according to the stories of the rectors, ranges from 10 to 50%. For example, the parish of the Trinity Church in Khokhly in 2014 transferred 230 thousand rubles. - with an "income" of about 2 million rubles, said Uminsky.

The priests explained to RBC that money is transferred to the diocese in two ways - in cash (for each amount a receipt is given) or by bank transfers.

The amount of deductions is growing every year, the priests of the regional churches complained to the RBC correspondent. “Under Patriarch Alexy II, I donated 10% to the diocese, now - 27%. This is due to the fact that after the arrival of Patriarch Kirill, the number of dioceses has tripled and the load on the parishes has greatly increased, ”the rector of a church near Moscow complains anonymously.

In churches on the periphery, where, according to Mitrokhin's definition, three people go to the procession - “father, mother and their little dog,” - even a fee that is insignificant by metropolitan standards seems overwhelming. “We have a parish of five people, we barely collect 3 thousand rubles a month. One and a half thousand rubles - to the diocese, ”says the rector of the parish in the Ivanovo region.

If the priest is unable to pay the fee, the diocese may say: “We understand everything. We are sorry. We can take another priest in your place. Nobody agrees to such an offer, ”says Dmitry Sverdlov, former rector of the Peter and Paul Church in the Domodedovo District of the Moscow Region. In 2011, Sverdlov was an observer in the elections to the State Duma, a year later he spoke out in support of Pussy Riot, in 2013 the priest was "banned from serving."

“Each diocesan meeting in our country begins with the announcement to the parishes: if you don’t collect the required amount, the abbot will be changed. Nobody cares whether a priest is performing pastoral duties - it is much more important whether he can raise money, says a cleric of one of the churches in southern Russia. - We collect up to 8 million rubles a year. donations, we pay 30% to the diocese, but each visit of the bishop is accompanied by an additional collection of money in an envelope. "

15% of what is collected by the dioceses is transferred to the patriarchate, said five interlocutors of RBC in the Russian Orthodox Church. It is impossible to calculate the exact amount of the funds transferred, but large dioceses, and there are about thirty of them, annually deduct from 10 to 20 million rubles to the patriarchies. each, Chaplin notes.

The financial and economic administration of the Patriarchate, headed by Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky, did not answer RBC's questions.

And in federal budget“There are closed articles”, the matter is “the church itself, how to dispose of it (its budget. - RBK)”, - these phrases answered the questions for the material by the press secretary of the patriarch, priest Alexander Volkov.

Candle factory

The revenues of commercial enterprises also pretty much feed the budget of the patriarchy, explains Archpriest Chaplin. The main ones are the Sofrino Art Production Enterprise and the Danilovskaya Hotel.

HPP produces icons, church furniture, tombs, bowls, wax candles (609 rubles for a two-kilogram pack of 500 candles) and paraffin (210 rubles for a two-kilogram pack of 500 candles), providing these items, according to several RBC sources in the Patriarchate, up to half of Russian churches. In a conversation with RBC, the priests admitted that in dioceses they are strongly advised to order Sofrino products for churches. Trading house "Sofrino" is located at the very beginning of the "golden mile" of Moscow, on Prechistenka - before the holidays and laymen buy icons and gifts there.

Sofrino "has been working in the village of the same name for over 40 years: the land for the construction of the main church plant at the request of Patriarch Pimen was allocated in 1972 by the chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers Alexei Kosygin. Since the end of the 1980s, Evgeny Parkhaev has become the permanent head of the KhPP - he, according to SPARK, runs the Danilovskaya hotel belonging to the patriarchy. In the 2000s, he was a co-owner of the Sofrino private security company and headed the Unified Customer Service of the Moscow Patriarchate, which is now participating in the construction of new churches under the 200 Churches program.

Near the trading house "Sofrino" on Prechistenka is one of the branches of the group of telecommunication companies "ASVT". The firm was also owned by Parkhaev by 10.7% at least until 2009. The co-founder of the company (through CJSC Russdo) is the co-chairman of the Union of Orthodox Women Anastasia Ositis, the company is headed by her daughter Irina Fedulova. The revenue of ASVT for 2014 is over 436.7 million rubles, profit - 64 million rubles. Ositis, Fedulova, and Parkhaev did not answer questions for this article.

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

Immediately after the Old Bank was renamed into Sofrino, the Housing Construction Company (ZhSK), founded by Malyshev and partners, received several large contracts with the ROC: in 2006, ZhSK won 36 tenders announced by the Ministry of Culture (formerly Roskultura) for restoration temples. The total volume of contracts is 60 million rubles.

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

The unknown biographer continues to have enough energy of Parkhaev to manage, with the patriarch's blessing, 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 manager: experienced and purposeful. "

The daily cost of a single room "Danilovskaya" with breakfast on weekdays - 6300 rubles, apartments - 13 thousand rubles, among the services - a sauna, a bar, car rental and organization of holidays. Income of "Danilovskaya" in 2013 - 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, the interlocutor of RBC in a company that manufactures church products is sure. The permanent leader of Sofrino enjoys privileges that even prominent priests are deprived of, confirms a RBC source in one of the major dioceses. In 2012, photos from the anniversary of Parkhaev got on the Internet - the holiday was celebrated with pomp in the hall of church cathedrals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. After that, the guests of the hero of the day went on a motor ship to Parkhaev's dacha in the Moscow region. The photographs, the authenticity of which have not been disputed, show an imposing cottage, a tennis court and a pier with boats.

From graveyards to t-shirts

The sphere of interests of the Russian Orthodox Church includes medicines, jewelry, the lease of conference rooms, Vedomosti wrote, as well as agriculture and the market for ritual services. According to the SPARK database, the patriarchate is a co-owner of CJSC Orthodox Ritual Service: now the company is closed, but its subsidiary, OJSC Ritual Orthodox Service, operates (revenue for 2014 - 58.4 million rubles).

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

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

Finally, since 2012, the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church have owned the building of the Universitetskaya hotel in the south-west 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. “There is a large hall in“ Universitetskaya ”, you can hold conferences, accommodate people who come to events. The hotel, of course, is cheap, very common people live there, very rarely - bishops, ”Chaplin told RBC.

Church cash desk

Archpriest Chaplin was unable to realize his old idea - banking system excluding usurious interest. While Orthodox banking exists only in words, the patriarchy uses the services of the most ordinary banks.

Until recently, the church had accounts in three organizations - Ergobank, Vneshprombank and Peresvet Bank (the latter are also owned by the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church). The salaries of employees of the Synodal Department of the Patriarchate, according to a RBC source in the Russian Orthodox Church, were transferred to accounts in Sberbank and Promsvyazbank (press services of banks did not respond to RBC's request; a source close to Promsvyazbank said that the bank, including, kept 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 Russia. In January, the bank's license was revoked due to a "hole" found in its balance sheet.

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

Valery Meshalkin is the owner of the construction and installation company Energomashkapital, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, author of the book The Influence of Mount Athos on the Monastic Traditions of Eastern Europe. Meshalkin did not answer RBC's questions. According to a RBC source in Ergobank, they managed to withdraw money from the accounts of the ROC structure before the license was revoked.

In the no less problematic Vneshprombank, 1.5 billion rubles were "stuck". ROC, a source in the bank told RBC and two interlocutors close to the patriarchy confirmed. The bank's license was also revoked in January. According to one of the interlocutors of RBC, the chairman of the board of the bank, Larisa Markus, was close to the patriarchy and its leadership, so the church chose this bank to store part of its money. According to the interlocutors of RBC, in addition to the patriarchate, funds in Vneshprombank were kept by several funds carrying out the instructions of the patriarch. The largest is the Foundation of Saints Equal to the Apostles Constantine and Helena. RBC's source in the Patriarchate said that the fund raised money to help those affected by 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 held funds of enterprises and organizations (85.8 billion rubles) and individuals(20.2 billion rubles). Assets as of January 1 - 186 billion rubles, of which more than half - loans to companies, the bank's profit - 2.5 billion rubles. On the accounts of non-profit organizations - over 3.2 billion rubles., Follows from the statements of "Peresvet".

The financial and economic department of the Russian Orthodox Church owns 36.5% of the bank, another 13.2% belongs to the company "Sodeystvie" LLC owned by the Russian Orthodox Church. 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 a RBC correspondent whether there was a connection between his company and Sodestvie. In the office of "Assistance" phones do not answer.

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

Investment and innovation

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

Peresvet invests money in innovative projects through the Sberinvest company, in which the bank owns 18.8%. Funding for innovations is shared: 50% of the money is provided by Sberinvest investors (including Peresvet), 50% - by state corporations and funds. Funds for Sberinvest's projects were found in the Russian Venture Company (the RVC press service refused to name the amount of funds), the Skolkovo fund (the fund invested 5 million rubles in development, press secretary Alexandra Barshchevskaya reported) and the state corporation Rusnano (at Sberinvest projects allocated $ 50 million, said a press officer).

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

In 2015, "Fund Rusnano Capital S.A." - subsidiary company "Rusnano" - appealed to the District Court of Nicosia (Cyprus) with the requirement to recognize Bank "Peresvet" as a co-defendant in the case of violation of the same investment agreement. V statement of claim(at the disposal of RBC) it is said that the bank, in violation of the 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 with Peresvet.

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

“This is all nonsense,” Oleg Dyachenko, a member of the board of directors of Sberinvest, does not lose heart in an interview with RBC. “With Rusnano, we have good energy projects, everything is going, everything is moving - a composite pipe plant has fully entered the market, silicon dioxide is at a very high level, we process rice, we get heat, and we have entered an export position." When asked where the money went, the top manager laughs: “You see, I'm free. This means that the money has not been lost. " Dyachenko believes the case will be closed.

The press service of "Peresvet" did not respond to repeated inquiries from RBC. The bank's chairman of the board, Alexander Shvets, did the same.

Income and expenses

“Since Soviet times, the church economy has been opaque,” ​​explains the rector Aleksey Uminsky, “it has been built on the principle of a home: parishioners give money for a service, but nobody cares about how it is distributed. And the parish priests themselves do not know exactly where the money they have collected is spent. "

Indeed, it is impossible to calculate church expenses: the ROC does not announce tenders and does not appear on the public procurement website. In economic activities, the church, says Abbess Ksenia (Chernega), “does not hire contractors,” managing on its own - the monasteries supply food, the workshops melt candles. The multilayer cake is divided within the ROC.

"What is the church spending on?" - the abbess asks and replies: "Theological seminaries are maintained throughout Russia, this is a fairly large share of the expenses." The church also provides charitable assistance to orphans and other social institutions; all synodal departments are funded from the general church budget, she adds.

The Patriarchate did not provide RBC with data on the expenditure items of its budget. In 2006, Natalya Deryuzhkina, at that time an accountant of the Patriarchate, in the magazine Foma, 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 specifies, it is necessary to pay salaries to the secular staff of the patriarchate. In total, these are 200 people with an average salary of 40 thousand rubles. a month, according to a source of RBC in the Patriarchate.

These expenses are insignificant against the background of the annual deductions of dioceses to Moscow. What happens to all the rest of the money?

A few days after the scandalous resignation, Archpriest Chaplin opened a Facebook account, where he wrote: “Understanding anything, I consider hiding income and especially expenses of the central church budget absolutely immoral. In principle, there cannot be the slightest Christian justification for such a concealment. "

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

The income of religious organizations from "the performance of rituals and ceremonies", as well as from the "sale of religious literature and religious items" increased last year by 27%, to 1.79 billion rubles. This is evidenced by the statistics of the Federal Tax Service, which Life got acquainted with.

The amount of donations from citizens and organizations "for the conduct of statutory activities", on the contrary, slightly decreased, by 3%, to 4.03 billion rubles.

In 2014, on the contrary, Russians donated more, but less often bought spiritual literature and ordered services. Donations amounted to almost 4.2 billion rubles, but income from the sale of candles and icons, as well as from the performance of rituals, amounted to only 1.4 billion rubles.

We are talking specifically about the ROC. Roman Silantyev, chairman of the expert council for conducting state religious studies under the Ministry of Justice, notes that the overwhelming share of such income belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church, since, for example, it is not customary in Islam to conduct religious rituals similar to those held in Russian churches. Therefore, donations from parishioners of other confessions, as a rule, do not fall into the official statistics.

In the statistics of the Federal Tax Service for 2015, data appeared on how many churches were listed by their various subsidiaries - however, they look somewhat underestimated. If in 2014 the subsidiaries transferred 25 million rubles, then last year the amount increased by more than 50%, to almost 40 million rubles. The main donors of the Russian Orthodox Church are the Sofrino Art and Production Enterprise, the Danilovskaya Hotel on the territory of St. Daniel's Monastery, as well as the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Sofrino produces icons, church furniture, tombs, bowls, wax and paraffin candles, providing church parishes with these items. The accounts are not published. The Danilovskaya Hotel offers single rooms at a price of up to 4,100 rubles a day with breakfast, and apartments up to 13,000 rubles a day. In 2014, the hotel's revenue was, according to the Spark database, 112 million rubles, the profit is slightly more than 1 million rubles.

Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, sexton of the local church of St. Peter the Metropolitan of Moscow Vitaly Milonov confirms the data of the Federal Tax Service. According to him, during the "trial period" that our country is now experiencing, people more often turn to God:

“According to my observations, there are more parishioners in churches, and they began to write down more names for services, buy candles and various literature. Here is a simple example. Recently we opened a new church, where there were zero parishioners. 50-70 people go there every day. Last year hundreds of new churches have opened throughout the country, it is safe to say that the number of parishioners has increased significantly. But somewhere the church was too far away, and many simply could not reach it. "

The Russian Orthodox Church did not officially comment on these statistics. Earlier, the press service of the patriarch noted that they did not have information about financial activities Churches. As the data from the Spark database show, almost every parish of the Russian Orthodox Church is separate. legal entity, and the consolidated financial statements of the Russian Orthodox Church are not published in open sources.

It should be noted that the income of the Church is not profit per se. In 2012, the Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights (OZPP) filed a lawsuit against the ROC with a demand to declare illegal the activity of distributing goods on the territory of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In its claim, the OZPP asked to oblige the courtyard to place signs on all pavilions, issue price tags on all goods, establish cash registers and issue receipts for goods to all visitors.

"The reason for going to court was the systemic and long-term violations of consumer protection legislation committed by this organization in the implementation of commercial activities for the sale of goods and services," the OZPP said in a statement.

The Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow took the side of the Russian Orthodox Church, indicating that the actions of the Church do not fall under the law on the protection of consumer rights. Also, the patriarchy's legal department denied the assertion that the temple is engaged in any commercial activity, including the sale of religious objects.

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For many years the church was far from the life of Russian society. Now the personalities of the clergy and the salaries of Orthodox priests have become the subject of close attention. Church ministers are rewarded for their work. Incomes can be the minimum wage, and can reach amounts well over 100 thousand rubles per month.

In the usual sense, there is no official salary for clergy. Priests and their family members live on a percentage of sponsorship deductions, donations from parishioners, providing services for which the church has established rates. V different countries income amounts vary.

Salaries of priests in foreign countries

V foreign countries representatives of the clergy (this applies to Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant priests) earn on average (in rubles):

• Belarus - 24 thousand;
• Ukraine - 32 thousand;
• Greece - 40 thousand;
• France 56 thousand and free housing;
• Italy, Spain - 65 thousand;
• Belgium - 240 thousand;
• USA - about 230 thousand

In wealthy countries with strong religious traditions, clergy salaries are higher.

Salary for a priest in Russia in 2019

In Russia, a country with vast territories, the salaries of clergymen differ dramatically, sometimes by an order of magnitude, depending on the location of the church in which they serve.

At the sermon. The Congregation Needs Young and Educated Priests

In most cases, the salary of a priest depends on the abbot of the church, who assigns it to a specific applicant based on the results of an interview. In the hands of the abbot is concentrated the income received by the temple from rituals, the sale of books and candles, donations during services, and income from commercial activities.

The church shop at the temple brings him income

Of the total amount, 20% is deducted to the diocese, paid utilities and the salary is calculated. Its size is focused on the average salary of social workers in different regions... The priests of the Primorsky Territory can be considered the highest paid; 100 thousand rubles is their monthly income. V Northern capital priests receive half as much - 50 thousand rubles. This amount is half, and sometimes even three times less for the priests of small rural churches in the Russian hinterland.

How much does a priest get in Moscow

Ordinary metropolitan clerics earn an average of 60–80 thousand rubles a month.

Former rector of the Yelokhovsky Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow, Alexander Ageikin, now chairman of the Church-Public Council under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia for the development of Russian church singing; his salary is calculated with six zeros

The rectors of Moscow churches, according to the publication Rambler. Finance "with reference to the information of Businessman.ru, have an income of 100 thousand to 1 million rubles.

Benefits and retirement

All clergymen have work books registered with the Pension Fund and medical insurance. Contributions to Pension Fund are committed by the abbot and have a standard size determined by the Labor Law. Priests are entitled to leave of 28 days. They can go on a well-deserved rest at 65, but the concept of "retirement" does not exist for them. The priests work to a ripe old age and can refuse to work only for health reasons.

How much does the ROC earn?

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is an extensive corporation, rich and influential. Its real income, as well as the items on which the expenses are incurred, are not known to the general public and even to interested parties.

By indirect evidence, we can conclude that they amount to trillions of rubles. This follows from the fact that the income tax-free of the church (ceremonies and ceremonies, donations, proceeds from the sale of religious literature), according to publicly available data two years ago, amounted to 5.6 billion rubles.

Church in Russian Federation is separated from the state, but it receives financial support from the state for cultural programs, projects related to the restoration of historical monuments, the functioning of hospitals in dioceses and the creation of charitable foundations.

What constitutes a priest's income

The amount of funds that the priest earns is an aggregate amount. It consists of fixed income, which the priest receives on the basis of planned receipts to the budget of the temple by paying for the services of a wedding, baptism, etc.

Parishes are often engaged in commercial activities, have their own production facilities, the proceeds from which also replenish the church treasury and affect the amount of the priest's income.

Monastic cakes and bread sold to parishioners of the temple are one of the items of income

In churches where there are wealthy parishioners, a significant part of the profit is their donations.

The church also has obligatory expenses that reduce the total amount - repair or restoration of the church, maintenance of Sunday schools, nursing homes, donations go to provide material assistance to poor citizens.

Patriarchal service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow

Two priests serving in different churches will receive income that is significantly different from each other depending on:

• the presence or absence of additional sources of profit;
• the size of the required fees for the needs of the parish;
• the location of the temple;
• the number of parishioners;
• the number of wealthy parishioners and trustees.

It's no secret: any priest dreams of a parish in the center of a large city, where there are no competing churches and where all the flock flock.

Where they teach to be priests

To become a priest, you need to get a higher specialized education. It is given by an Orthodox university, a theological seminary, or an academy. The most prestigious of them are the Russian Orthodox University, the Theological Seminary in Moscow, the Moscow Trinity-Sergius Academy, and the Theological Academy in the Northern Capital. The full course of study is five years.

When entering seminary, one must successfully pass the exam in the Law of God. The main subjects are the pedagogy of the pastor, the history of the church, theology, the history of the Russian church, Old Testament, New Testament, biblical studies, sectarian studies. To equate the received diploma with a bachelor's degree, foreign and Russian languages, literature have been added to the program. The main emphasis, in addition to specialized subjects, is placed on the study of psychology.

To become a clergyman, you must meet the following requirements:

• have a document on graduation from a theological school, and then from a seminary or academy;
• get a recommendation from a current priest;
• to be a parishioner;
• reach the age of 30;
• be married only once.

To build a successful career in the religious field, it is important to successfully distribute from educational institution, to be flexible and sociable in relations with those in power, to go through all the steps of the hierarchical ladder.

Is this profession profitable?

"Packs, packs ... like cherubs!" This profession is not about profit! Choosing the path of ministry to the church and people, everyone must decide why he is doing it. There is no guarantee that the applicant will be assigned to the metropolitan church, in the parish of which there are rich sponsors, and he will receive a good salary, and expensive cars as gratitude for the services. The place of service may be a remote province, where the parish will consist of a dozen low-income pensioners.

Father Sergius from the provinces built a temple at his own expense

Therefore, if we talk about the net benefit, it is worth looking for other activities that consistently guarantee high income. People enter this profession mainly by vocation, at the call of the heart. Many priests come from among the ministers of the church - these are their children. Girls from the families of priests are also admitted to the seminary - after graduation they become choir directors.

In the classroom at the Saratov Interdiocesan Women's Theological School, the choir is led by a graduate regent

The salaries of clergymen in Russia vary widely. The amount of income depends on many factors that can increase the profit received or reduce it to the level of the minimum wage.