Ministry of Culture: Churches not to rent state property long-term for free

Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko. Photo: Facebook

Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko said on the air of the “Espreso” channel that, according to Ukrainian laws, the state cannot transfer its property for long-term use to religious organizations for free.

"We can't transfer any buildings for free now, as it used to be, on a long-term lease or for many years. The legislation has changed. Either the legislation will have to be changed or some other decisions will have to be made based on the results of the work of the interdepartmental commission concerning the use of property that can be transferred to some extent for religious organizations," he said.

As reported, earlier Tkachenko said that the Dormition Cathedral and the Refectory Church in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra were officially taken away from the use of the UOC. The head of the OCU, Epifaniy Dumenko, performed a Christmas "service" at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra's Holy Dormition Cathedral.

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