Photos of the palaces and estates of influential people in Russia show that you definitely can’t stop someone from living beautifully. At your service are 8 luxurious “architectural masterpieces” that belong to the “best” people of “brotherly” Russia. Enjoy.
Palace of the Vasiliev brothers. The Vasiliev brothers were born in the village of Vyritsa, Leningrad Region. We ran video stores, then transported cars from Europe for sale in Russia, and ran car markets. Sergei Vasiliev, the middle brother, controlled and controls the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal (PNT), the largest bunkering company in the Seaport of St. Petersburg, with a 15% share of the volume of oil products transshipped in the Baltic, reports Censor.NET.
The brothers decided to build their estate in their native village on the banks of the Oredezh River. It is a smaller copy of the Catherine Palace - the famous royal residence in Pushkino. There are many things here that remind you of the Catherine Palace: patterns on the cast-iron lattice, golden domes of the palace chapel, sky blue color and white statues. There is only conflicting information about the interior: ceilings 14 meters high, marble staircases, doors made of tortoiseshells, mosaic marble floors with a total area of more than 600 square meters. m, black marble Atlantean knights.
According to the author of the project, architect Igor Gremitsky, exclusively natural materials were used to decorate the palace, including 19 types of marble from Italy. Experts suggest that the estate could have been the reason for the assassination attempt on Sergei Vasiliev in 2006. According to them, some “Muscovites” offered Vasiliev a significant sum for the mansion and they “took revenge” for Vasiliev’s refusal of the offer.
Yakunin's dacha. This Saturday, a post appeared on the entertainment portal “YaPlakal”, the author of which claimed that he participated in the construction of the residence for the head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin - he worked there on the so-called smart home. According to him, on several tens of hectares of forest near Domodedovo, private lakes were dug, a garage for 15 cars was built, a separate box for a luxury limousine, one and a half kilometers of underground passages to the garage were built, there was a private cinema, a bathhouse complex (1400 sq. m) with sauna, Russian, Turkish baths, salt room, swimming pool, separate massage room, etc.
This entry interested bloggers who found the dacha on the map; According to Alexei Navalny, during construction the facility belonged to Yakunin, then it was re-registered to other owners, but the head of Russian Railways continued to use it. Interestingly, the original post from YaPlakal, a video of the construction of a pond, was deleted, but managed to spread to other social resources.
Then a certain builder Alexey, who allegedly worked there, spoke on RSN. “There were 300 Vietnamese people working there, and they killed all the fish there with electric fishing rods. External finishing - Italian marble. Bathhouse - three buildings, 14 by 14 meters, Italian furniture, marble bar counter, fireplace, stained glass windows. It is made of glass, there are no walls as such, locker rooms, showers, everything is very expensive. Swimming pool 50 meters in the house. There is a storage room for fur coats and a refrigerator. The small house is the son’s, the guest house, and the main one is his. There is a prayer room and a chapel there. It seems that Metrostroy dug ponds there for 150 million. It’s decorated with gold tiles, and the room is very large - a hammam, a bathhouse, a steam room, a panorama to look at the forest,” the builder said on the radio station.
Shuvalov's residence. Igor Shuvalov, who has served as Deputy Prime Minister since 2008, is the wealthiest member of the government according to his 2012 declaration. His income amounted to about 226 million rubles; The income of the wife, Olga Viktorovna Shuvalova, is about 222 million rubles.
In his declaration, the official indicated that he, together with his wife and three minor children, rents a house with an area of 4,174 square meters. meters. The residence of the Deputy Prime Minister is located next to the Skolkovo innovation city on the territory of the former dacha of Brezhnev-era Politburo member Mikhail Suslov (state dacha “Zarechye-4”), is under jealous guard and surrounded by a high fence. Natalya Pelevina, in her blog on the website of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, talks about a “palace” with an area of 1,500 square meters. meters, built in the shape of the letter “P”. On a plot of 7.5 hectares, according to Pelevina, there are also indoor tennis courts, a swimming pool, luxurious gardens “with shrubs trimmed in Versailles style,” a greenhouse for exotic plants, separate houses for servants and security, and more.
Kadyrov's residence. On the banks of the Sunzha River in the city of Grozny stands another very impressive mansion. The official residence of the head of the Chechen Republic with an area of 260 thousand square meters. meters cost the budget, according to Novaya Gazeta, about 10 billion rubles. Novaya Gazeta notes that 48 million rubles - 360 thousand square meters - were allocated for the improvement of the territory of the residence alone. m of lawn, 77 thousand sq. m of flower beds, 16 thousand roses, 14 thousand sq. m of curly pruned bushes, hedges, etc. About 36 million rubles have been allocated for utility services for the residence.
Nikolai Uskov, head of the Snob project, after a meeting of the club of editors-in-chief of central media in Grozny, organized by ITAR-TASS, eloquently described what he saw: “On a huge square in the middle of ideal lawns, reminiscent of the emerald waves of golf courses, a monumental palace in the Ottoman style rose, next to it is a copy of the sacred Kaaba, framed by minarets. […] Among the picturesque hills and Chechen family towers stretching to the left, a small farm is hidden. A bear cub lives with her in a cage, chickens and turkeys walk on the grass, roosters crow, a stream gurgles, flowing into an artificial pond.”
Medvedev Palace. In February 2011, Novaya Gazeta published an article suggesting that a personal dacha for ex-president and current prime minister Dmitry Medvedev was being built on the territory of the Bolshoy Utrish nature reserve. The mansion in Bolshoi Utrish was to be equipped with a marina and a helipad. Two wide roads leading to it were specially planned (according to Novaya Gazeta, these are the security requirements of the Federal Security Service when it comes to high-ranking officials). In its architecture, the “Medvedev’s dacha” project is similar to the so-called Putin’s palace in Gelendzhik.
The land on which the palace is located has been leased since July 2008 by the forestry department of the Krasnodar Territory to the Dar regional non-profit project fund for the construction of a sports and recreation complex there. For an area of 120 hectares, the fund will transfer 15 million rubles every year for 49 years. It is interesting that the founder of Dar is the Levit company (the company also owns a large share of Novotek OJSC), whose shareholders include businessmen Leonid Mikhelson, Leonid Simanovsky; In addition, Gazprombank provides significant support to organizations close to the Dar Foundation.
According to Novaya Gazeta, the Dar Fund Management Company LLC was located at the same address as the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives (FSCI) of the president’s wife Svetlana Medvedeva, the companies had the same telephone number, and the general the director of both organizations was at different times the same person (Olga Travina). The Presidential Administration stated that it has nothing to do with the construction.
Tkachev's dacha. In the Blue Bay, near the village of Bzhid, Dzhubga urban settlement, Tuapse district, Krasnodar Territory, there is an object that some consider to be the residence of the governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Alexander Tkachev. According to Rosreestr, part of these lands actually belongs to the governor. However, according to environmentalists, the area enclosed by a fence (about 7 hectares) significantly exceeds the area of land owned by Tkachev (1 hectare).
It was from the fence around the facility that the scandal began to flare up. In February - March 2011, activists of the “Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus” carried out actions against the seizure of forest lands and coastal strips, were detained by law enforcement officers and sentenced to various terms of administrative arrest (from 7 to 15 days). A request from environmentalists sent to the Forestry Department of the Krasnodar Territory received a response denying the existence of a fence around the area.
According to official data, on the territory of the proposed dacha there is a recreation center of Agrokompleks OJSC, where Tkachev worked in the past. “I have a dacha. In the area of Inal Bay near Dzhubga. They started building it in the late 90s. And then it took a long time to complete it. It is 70% owned by Agrocomplex, where I worked. Moreover, there is not a penny of budget funds there. Now employees of the enterprise, which employs more than 10 thousand people, rest in that “residence,” the governor responded at a meeting with bloggers in January 2012.
Dacha of the Patriarch. In February 2011, on the Black Sea coast north of the village of Divnomorskoye, activists of the “Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus” discovered what they said was illegal construction. At least 10 hectares of forest where Pitsunda pine, protected by law, grows, is surrounded by a three-meter fence. On the territory, according to ecologists, there is a “strange, pretentious structure - either a mansion or a temple - this quadrangular building is crowned with a dome with a cross. An absolutely unimaginable hybrid of a palace and a temple.”
The Russian Orthodox Church confirmed that this object belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, but noted that it is not the patriarch’s dacha that is being built near Gelendzhik, but a spiritual center. The territory of the spiritual center was to house a meeting room of the Holy Synod, premises for the stay of members of the Synod, administrative and management services of the Moscow Patriarchate, work rooms, conference rooms, press center premises, etc. In the summer of 2012, according to activists, the fence around the mysterious object grew significantly in height, became much longer and was equipped with night surveillance cameras and an alarm system. Later, Patriarch Kirill consecrated a temple on the territory of the spiritual center and held a meeting of the Holy Synod there.
Putin's Palace. At the end of 2010, St. Petersburg businessman Sergei Kolesnikov sent Dmitry Medvedev a letter about corruption. It said that for the personal use of Vladimir Putin, then the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, a “recreation complex” was being built on the Black Sea coast near the village of Praskoveevka in the Gelendzhik region. The letter said that construction had been going on since 2005, and since 2007 the vineyard had been cultivated for the production of elite wines; the total cost of the project, according to the author of the letter, reached $1 billion. There was no response to Kolesnikov’s letter from Dmitry Medvedev.
Subsequently, the businessman outlined a financing scheme for this project. According to him, in 2005, businessman Nikolai Shamalov (Putin’s friend and co-founder of the Ozero cooperative) instructed him to create the Rosinvest company, one of the projects of which was the construction in the vicinity of the village of Praskoveevka and the creation of vineyards in this area. In 2009, according to Kolesnikov, Putin decided to suspend work on almost all projects and deal exclusively with the “Project South” (construction of a dacha), and all objects and land were transferred to the ownership of Shamalov’s company, Indokopas LLC. Sergei Kolesnikov claims that, although the project was envisaged as a private residence of Nikolai Shamalov, the construction of the palace was carried out by Spetsstroy of Russia, and the Federal Security Service supervised it, guarded it and gave all instructions. According to Kolesnikov, the complex occupied an area of “tens of thousands of square meters” and was equipped with “a casino, a winter theater, a summer amphitheater, a chapel, swimming pools, a sports complex, helipads, landscaped parks, tea houses, premises for service personnel and other technical buildings "
In the spring of 2011, the company Indokopas LLC, together with the residence, was sold to a Cypriot company, the beneficiary of which is businessman Alexander Ponomarenko. Bloggers suggest that the palace is the private residence of Vladimir Putin. In particular, according to their statement, on August 6-7, 2011, three large yachts were seen in the area of the residence (one of them was similar to the Olympia yacht, which, according to bloggers, Vladimir Putin uses) and two patrol ships. A few days before, law enforcement agencies cleared the nearby coastline of tents and checked the passports of citizens vacationing in them. Subsequently, Vladimir Kozhin, manager of the affairs of the President of the Russian Federation, denied reports about the construction of a residence for Vladimir Putin.
Actually, there are many links on the Internet on this topic, whoever has written about it, from Deacon Kuraev to Stas Sadalsky:
http://blagin-anton.livejournal.com/46223.html
http://wap.nazionalizm.forum24.ru/?1-8-0-00000049-000-0-0-1251218670
http://irizz.livejournal.com/117597.html
http://i-hate-the-snow.livejournal.com/46649.html
http://www.luchmir.com/Declarations/2Slovo09.htm
http://forum.dpni.org/archive/index.php/t-36574.html?s=
http://3rm.info/index.php?newsid=1294
This is almost a recognition for future generations, isn't it?
I was interested in the words of A. Nevzorov in his interview on Echo this week:
O. Bychkova – In the history of modern Russia, all murders are mysterious. Because 20 years have passed since Listyev was killed and nothing is still clear.
A. Nevzorov – Yes, everything is clear there. There, simply no one will stir up that pile anymore, because in fact, both the customers and the performers have all been dead a long time ago. And there is, for example, the death of Ridiger, Alexy II, where not even a criminal case was initiated. Where was it released with such soft brakes, besides, I will tell you as an anatomist that in order to crush the posterior ear vein by hitting a toilet or some hard surface, in a small room, you need to hit this hard surface 15 times, and each time do this with increasing force. Because it is very well protected, and it has, as anatomists know, such unpleasant slipperiness. And there wasn’t even a criminal case. And no investigative experiments or anything at all.
Here's more about it:
About how the High Priest of Putin’s Reich, Patriarch Kirill, amassed his billion-dollar capital on speculation in tobacco and alcohol and oil (exempt from taxes and excise taxes) in the dashing 90s, how he, the head of the gangster empire of the Russian Orthodox Church, eliminated and liquidated his competitors, many have already written. Yes, yes, in those same dashing 90s, about which he once put it this way:
"The fact that a huge role in correcting this the crookedness of our history(the dashing 90s) were played by you personally, Vladimir Vladimirovich. I would like to thank you. You once said that you work like a slave in the galleys, with the only difference being that the slave did not have such a return, but you have a very high return.”
All patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, including the current one, are KGB officers:
During the criminal tobacco war of the 90s, the winner of which was the future Patriarch, and then the head of the shadow business of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Gundyaev, many people were killed, including Zhirinovsky’s assistant Gennady Dzen, a bandit from Smolensk, the head of Roscontractpostavka, and another his assistant, Alexander Frantskevich. Zhirik himself also took part in this war. In those years, Gundyaev was assigned the thieves' pogonyalovo "Tabachny", but now he is more often called by another nickname - Lyzhneg, because he loves to go skiing in the soulless geyrop country of evergreen doormen of Switzerland, where he has his own villa, to which he flies on his own plane .
Materials from the KGB archives, studied in 1992 by a parliamentary commission headed by dissident priest Fr. Gleb Yakunin, revealed that most of the church hierarchy had ties to the secret police.
62-year-old Kirill Gundyaev bore the code name "Mikhailov", and Filaret was identified as agent "Ostrovsky". It is suspected that Kliment worked for the KGB under the pseudonym "Topaz".
Metropolitan Filaret, appointed Metropolitan of Minsk in 1978, was the head of the Department for External Church Relations in the eighties. In 1989, this powerful structure was headed by Metropolitan Kirill.
At the beginning of 1992, a commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Russia officially drew the attention of the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church to the “deep infiltration of intelligence agencies” into the Church, which “represents a serious danger to society and the state.” That same year, meeting with Moscow State University students, Kirill asserted: “The fact of a meeting between the clergy and KGB representatives is morally indifferent.”
In addition to the villa in Switzerland, the Tobacco Ski-Patriarch has palaces in Peredelkino, in the Danilov Monastery, in Gelendzhik, next to Putin’s palace, and a penthouse with a terrace in the House on the Embankment - overlooking the Cathedral of Christ the Savior:
And the former right hand of his Eminence - Bishop Victor (in the world - Pyankov) now, having stolen, lives in the sinful States as a private person. Surely he indulges in fasting and prayers and, as Zhvanetsky said, “he’s terribly sorry.”
Read more in Novaya Gazeta, and also or see for yourself:
Since then, Gundyaev’s palace near Gelendzhik, for the sake of which a protected forest of red and other unique trees was cut down, has long been built. This is how the main priest of Russian morality lives:
Kirill’s residence, which occupied the entire territory from the sea to the highway, not only “gnawed off” half a kilometer of public shoreline and road, but also blocked people’s last opportunity for safe access to the forest and cemetery. Now they need to make a detour not a kilometer long, but three kilometers (!), one of which is along the highway.
This road was called “The Road of Death” because people die on it.
And all so that someone could stick out their belly and no one could see it.
When the Rev. Comrade came from Gebnya. Gundyaev, who replaced Alexy II, who was killed by him, the area of the residence increased 10 times (!), and 12.7 hectares of the State Forest Fund, covered with relict Pitsunda pine, were transferred for development, cutting down and complete fencing of the church, which were to be built up, cut down or fenced off THE LAW PROHIBITS IN PRINCIPLE.
Read about how the community tried to fight against all these lawlessness for many years, it contains a lot of details, links, photographs and documents.
The Patriarch still loves not only to teach people about life (well, for example: “ 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"), but also to brag about corruption and brand corrupt officials:
Asceticism is a good thing, especially when your fortune is 4 times greater than that of Rottenberg Sr. and 8 times that of Rottenberg Jr., and this does not even take into account the cost of the almost billion-dollar palace in Gelendzhik.
Such an ascetic Caudla...
P.S. As the famous philosopher Boris Paramonov writes, what Patriarch Gundyaev has in common with the spiritless geyropa is not only that he skis there, like Pastor Shlak. As it turns out, the patriarch himself is:
“We could talk about similar scandals in the Russian Orthodox Church. But here Deacon Kuraev has already said a lot. Except to remember that Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad was a homosexual, which everyone knew about, even my church-going mother-in-law. The current patriarch was with him, as they say in church language, “a night cell attendant” or, as it is written in Wikipedia, “performed the obedience of a personal secretary.”
Luxurious transport always causes envy and unfounded talk. Especially when it comes to church ministers. So Patriarch Kirill’s yacht made a lot of noise in 2011.
The most beautiful yacht in Russia
Billionaires cannot be stopped from spending their money on luxury ships and stylish sea yachts. But what if such an expensive vehicle is seen in the possession of a servant of God? We are talking about the most beautiful yacht “Pallada”. This is a chic black boat with tinted windows. The cost of such a “toy” is $4,000,000. The numbers are shocking, and the question arises: “Is this the personal yacht of Patriarch Kirill or did he just decide to go for a ride?”
The ship was built back in 2003, it was designed by the architect Guido de Grota. The total length of the yacht is 32 meters, its width is 7.45 meters. Initially, this ship was registered with the President of the Russian Federation. Today it is the yacht of Patriarch Kirill. It has four crew members who live in two cabins. The ship can also accommodate guests, but in the amount of 8 people.
What's inside the yacht?
The yacht of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow is equipped with the most powerful instruments. The design of each cabin is royal. It is impossible not to mention the elite white wood that was used for interior decoration. The designers also used mahogany and oak. All furniture is made according to special sketches from expensive material, and it is covered with genuine leather.
The snow-white deck goes well with the dark hull. The yacht "Pallada" of Patriarch Kirill regularly receives guests from all churches of the world. High-ranking spiritual leaders relax in a luxurious living room. There is not only a bar, but also the best home cinema. The room is well insulated, so it is pleasant to be in it, even when bad weather is raging outside.
Eight people can dine in the dining room. Each bedroom has a royal bed. In the bathroom you can take all the necessary water procedures and even enjoy the warmth of the sauna. For those who cannot imagine life without physical activity, there is a full-fledged fitness room.
Where did the Patriarch of Moscow get the yacht from?
The personal life of the leaders of the Orthodox world always arouses interest among ordinary people. And when strange news appears about luxury vehicles or expensive accessories, people begin to criticize and accuse every church minister of dishonesty. This is exactly what happened when the yacht of Patriarch Kirill was discovered.
Journalists on the Internet began to talk indignantly about expensive apartments and how they would influence the prayerful mood of everyone present. But the very first question that every person asked was very logical: “Where did Patriarch Kirill get his yacht?”
Gifts from oil workers
In 2005, on July 25, Vladimir Vladimirovich’s former yacht was spotted on the pier of Krestovsky Island. The Valaam Monastery received such water transport through intermediaries. The vessel was donated by a famous oil company
The monastery has long had its own fleet, consisting of ten ships. But there was no high-status vessel in this collection. Guests with a special spiritual status are supposed to ride on special yachts. Therefore, the gift came to court, and it’s not at all scary that the name is pagan.
An attraction of unknown generosity?
The yacht of Patriarch Kirill made a lot of noise. What the ROC (Russian Orthodox Church) says about her is still unknown. Its representatives prefer to simply remain silent and shrug their shoulders. Of course, this is a gift, and it is not customary to judge gifts.
Press secretary of NK Lukoil Dmitry Dolgov gave interviews to many print media. But he is silent about why such gifts are given. The man only said that the yacht was not used by the company itself. It was specially purchased for Gundyaev, who represents the entire community of the clergy of our country.
Who is Pallas?
Athena's foster sister was named Pallas. The yacht intended for the leader of the state was christened with this pagan name. No one paid attention to this until the yacht began to belong to the RCP. In 2007, the church ministers promised that they would change the name to a Christian one - “Vsetsaritsa”. This is what the icon of the Mother of God is called. But so many years have passed, and the yacht still has not changed its name.
Journalists often asked questions to church ministers about this. They, in turn, found strange explanations for this behavior. The coats of arms of the Russian Federation located on the ship also cause particular outrage. As is known, the state emblem cannot be used by the RCP.
Ground transport of Patriarch Kirill
To bring the word of God to the masses, you need to move all the time. The yacht of Patriarch Kirill complemented the collection that is on the balance sheet of the Russian Orthodox Church. As he himself claims, the gift from the oil company came in handy. This was despite the fact that church leaders already had ten courts at their disposal. The yacht, of course, is a noticeable transport, but there are others that are not inferior to the vessel in luxury and assembly:
- Vehicle fleet required for overland travel. The collection of the Patriarch of Moscow includes a Mercedes super-luxury S series, a Toyota Land Cruiser, a limousine and even a Soviet rarity “Victory”.
- Armored carriage with an icon on the facade.
Other generous gifts
Thousands of parishioners regularly bring gifts to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. Among them there are quite wealthy people who can afford gifts for $30,000. This is how much a Breguet watch costs. In them, the leader of Christianity repeatedly appeared in the frame, but sometimes diligent editors removed them. After all, such accessories will cause outrage among many people.
And the dacha in the form of a temple still shocks everyone who happens to be near it. These mansions are located on the coast of the Krasnodar region. For the sake of their construction, hundreds of trees from the state forest fund were cut down.
Another yacht of the patriarch
Before people had time to forget about the generous gifts from oil workers to the church minister, a new scandal broke out in September 2015. At the center of events is again a ship, the cost of which is about $600,000. Patriarch Kirill was spotted on a yacht in August by local residents, but the information was leaked onto the World Wide Web on September 22. Even photographs were taken. They show that a gray-haired old man is standing at the helm. Next, photographs were taken showing the patriarch bathing. The action takes place in Blue Bay, which is located near the village of Divnomorskoye (Krasnodar Territory).
Journalists with particular zeal began to call everyone who could confirm Kirill’s presence on the Azimut yacht. But other representatives of the clergy preferred to remain silent about the patriarch’s sea walk. The silence only added more questions, so it could have happened. It is also known that ministers of rural churches repeatedly wrote letters to Patriarch Kirill himself. They accuse him of encouraging debauchery and turning a blind eye to expensive gifts that are inappropriate for anyone who serves the Christian faith.
But Alexey Nevzorov (a well-known publicist) openly points out that all clergy leaders live on the money of parishioners and taxpayers. People simply put unimaginable amounts of money into the purse of the Russian Orthodox Church, buying candles, icons and other church paraphernalia. He also writes that behind all these robes hide ordinary mortal men and women who like luxury, expensive cars and large sums in their accounts. They are people who have forgotten what sin is and how they need to give their property for the good of faith. These people simply promote righteous views, but are not ready to throw off gold and status from their shoulders.
This is how scandals arise when Patriarch Kirill rides on a yacht. The refutation appeared immediately after the shameless accusations on the Internet. But these words had a lot in common and little information about the fact of Kirill’s swimming in the Black Sea.
How does the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' live?
In 2014, in an interview, Kirill said a phrase that spread throughout the Internet: “We live today as richly as we have never lived since the revolution.” This statement caused a lot of comments. People tried to decipher what exactly the church minister meant. Perhaps the proposal was addressed to the Russian Orthodox Church. Since people live quite poorly, especially in 2014, when the financial crisis began. The country's economy was also not in the best shape, because prices for raw materials were falling at a catastrophic speed. The state budget was replenished through taxes and fines.
Today, the Patriarch of Moscow also lives well. Especially if he cuts the waves of the Black Sea on a yacht, the cost of which is about 600,000 dollars. His associates claim that this man has no time to be distracted by the holidays and entertainment of ordinary mortal people. He prays every day for the salvation of Russia and all its people. And the fact that his fleet contains several of the best cars, the yacht of Moscow Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev is at the pier, and the carriage is made of bulletproof material - these are simply the costs of his life. He is a public figure, so he needs to live up to his status.
Of course, whether to condemn the patriarch or not is a personal matter for everyone. No one knows what secrets this man keeps and how exactly he communicates with the Creator. In any case, his word is believed, and thousands of Christians are ready to follow him. And cars and yachts are the basic needs of civilized people. He shouldn't live in an adobe hut and ride a cart. Moreover, the yacht has become an ordinary gift. Likewise, the rest of the transport was donated or purchased with money from the Russian Orthodox Church. The budget in this treasury is far from small. Kirill has said many times that all the transport he uses is not his property. All that remains is to believe the words of this great man before more provocative pictures leak onto the Internet.
At a meeting of abbots and abbesses of the Russian Orthodox Church on September 22 in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Patriarch Kirill (in the world Vladimir Gundyaev) criticized the leaders of monasteries for striving for comfort and luxury. He forbade them to decorate their staffs with “jewelry trinkets” and instructed everyone to order simple wooden staffs for themselves upon returning home.
In addition, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said that although ministers in monasteries need to have pocket money, there should not be a formal salary there. He explained the call for such modesty by saying that abbots and governors of monasteries should “think more about ascetic deeds.”
To make the Patriarch’s exhortations to church servants about the renunciation of luxury and worldly goods sound more convincing, Open Russia reminds how “ascetic” the Most Holy Bishop himself lives.
Real estate
It is reliably known that a 5-room apartment with an area of 144.8 square meters in the “House on the Embankment” overlooking the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is registered in the name of Vladimir Gundyaev. In 2012, the patriarch, in an interview with journalist Vladimir Solovyov, said that President Boris Yeltsin allocated this housing to him. Moreover, at that time Gundyaev lived in a wooden service residence in Serebryany Bor and did not need new living space. But Yeltsin’s entourage considered that the patriarch was living in a “trash” and gave him an apartment in the center of the capital.
As Gundyaev claimed, he never really lived in the “House on the Embankment,” but he moved there “the many-thousand-dollar rare library of his father, who spent his entire salary on purchasing rare books.” According to The New Times magazine, the patriarch's penthouse was purchased in 2002 and is the only property registered in his real name.
However, over time, the patriarch acquired an impressive list of real estate provided to him by the state or the church: a working residence in Chisty Lane, chambers in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (in a separate building), a residence in the Danilov Monastery, a palace near Gelendzhik, a residence on Valaam, houses in Trinity -Lykovo, on Solovki and on Rublyovka next to Dmitry Medvedev’s dacha.
The Kolychev-Bode estate in Peredelkino is considered to be Gundyaev’s permanent residence. For its construction, several houses of local residents had to be demolished. The facade of the building is similar to the Terem Palace in the Kremlin. But, as the media say, the patriarch does not like this estate: it is too close to the railway, and getting here is inconvenient and takes a long time. He doesn’t like living in the center of Moscow, where the environment is bad. And in Serebryany Bor it is too crowded: the area of the site is only 7723 square meters.
The Patriarch likes to live in the newly decorated palace in the Danilov Monastery. Or in a residence near Gelendzhik, not far from “Putin’s palace” in Praskoveevka. To build this patriarchal palace, which is officially called a “spiritual and educational center,” it was necessary to cut down part of the reserve with trees listed in the Red Book, as well as greatly expand the territory, “capturing” a piece of the coastal zone and cutting off the road to the cemetery from local residents.
Through various companies (including those using benefits provided by the church) and intermediaries, Patriarch Kirill at various times tried to enter other markets. For example, in the oil industry in the second half of the 1990s. It is believed that this business brought him the largest income, but it is not known exactly what.
In 2000, Vladimir Gundyaev began to deal with seafood - caviar, Kamchatka crabs, shrimp. From this he earned about $17 million.
He was also involved in the mining of Ural gems, the establishment of banks, and the purchase of shares and real estate.
Another of his businesses was related to cars. But all that is known about this is that he, as the ruling bishop of the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church MP in the Kaliningrad region, participated in an automobile joint venture in Kaliningrad. His business team included Archbishop Clement (Kapalin) and Archpriest Vladimir Veriga. They also gained fame as participants in the “tobacco” scandal.
Patriarch Kirill, Photo from rodoslav.wordpress.com
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, and in 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 for External Church Relations (DECR MP), was actively engaged in business, thanks to which he made a fortune of several billion. Yes, not rubles, but dollars.
Kirill tobacco
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 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 Doctor of 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. VC-P22/38 authorizes customs clearance of tobacco products in the prescribed manner with payment only of excise duty that entered the customs territory before 01/01/97, in accordance with the decision of the above-mentioned Commission.”
So, in fact, since then, Metropolitan Kirill has been given a new title - “Tabacchi”, writes Novaya Gazeta, clarifying that now he is no longer given that title. Now the patriarch is usually called “Skiner” - thanks to the light hand of 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 plane, and in Krasnaya Polyana it helps to consolidate informal relationships with powerful of this world).
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).
Kirill Neftyanoy
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.
Kirill Morskoy
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.
Kirill is luxurious
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, who filmed on the left hand of the patriarch next to the monastic rosary there are Ukrainian journalists. This happened the day after Kirill pompously broadcast live on the main Ukrainian television 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.
Kirill is scandalous
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 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.
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