Rada publishes text of bill to break lease of Pochaiv Lavra with UOC

The Pochaev Lavra. Photo: obitel-minsk.ru

On 5 April 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine published the text of a draft resolution on the appeal to the government to terminate the lease of the complex of buildings of the Pochaiv Lavra with the UOC.

"As of today, the Pochaiv Lavra is a source of the "Russian world" on the territory of the stauropegial monastery in Ukraine. It has been under the jurisdiction of the UOC MP for a long time and has become an outpost of anti-Ukrainian forces and a hotbed of interfaith confrontation and discord," the text of the draft says.

The document was signed by over 30 MPs from different factions.

The committee recommended the Parliament adopt a draft resolution on an appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers with a proposal to annul the lease agreement with the UOC on the complex of buildings of the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra and return it to the state.

The authors of the draft law noted that the contract with the UOC is not beneficial to the state.

"Unfortunately, the Pochaiv Lavra has turned into "an island" where neither ministerial checks nor public control is allowed. We are convinced that the Ukrainian shrine must be freed from the hostages of an enemy religious organization by terminating the contract of gratuitous use with the UOC MP and conducting an appropriate inspection," deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Eugenia Kravchuk said on Facebook.

As earlier reported, a draft law on the termination of the contract with the Pochaiv Lavra has been submitted to the Parliament.

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