Media: why Ministry of Culture failed to conduct church property inventory

Minister of Culture of Ukraine Yevgeny Nyshchuk

By order of the Minister of Culture Yevgeny Nishchuk, the state bodies of Ukraine began in September the process of inventorying the property of the UOC. But the plans of the Ministry of Culture suffered fiasco when confronted with the legislation and the real state of affairs, reports “Ukrainski novyny” (“Ukrainian News”).

The National Reserve "Glukhov" responded to the governmental agency that "they have no legal authority to conduct such an inventory". The reserve staff asked the rectors of temples to agree to the inventory but later completely cancelled their order to create a commission:

As found out, the cathedral located on the territory of the Shevchenko National Reserve in Kanev belongs to the UOC religious community. Therefore, the reserve staff recommended the Ministry of Culture to turn to the local city council for clarification:

The inventory, which nevertheless was taken at the National Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve, revealed one single exhibit –a tabernacle:

In the reserve "Kachanovka", the Ministry of Culture "saved from the export" a dinner table:

The "Sophia of Kiev" and some other reserves honestly reported that the state did not give them any "historical and cultural values" for storage or temporary use (see more photos in the gallery):

As for the Pochaev Lavra, the state owns only buildings, all the rest is the property of believers:

In the territory of “Old Uman”, there are no monasteries, temples or churches revealed that belong to the UOC:

Chigirin doesn’t even have any Christian buildings used by the UOC:

Authorities of the Khortitsa Reserve said, “No one has ever attempted to export the valuables, all of them are under the round-the-clock protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs”:

Even one temple of the UOC KP accidentally found itself in the spotlight against the inspectors’ passions running high:

On September 26, the Ministry of Culture stated that they had nothing to do with the creation of commissions for the evaluation of property of monasteries and temples of the UOC. In October, journalists proved that these statements of the Ministry of Culture were untrue.

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