Ternopil Regional Council member says how to take Pochaiv Lavra from UOC

The Pochaiv Dormition Lavra. Photo: zahid.espreso.tv

On January 3, 2023, the Ternopil Regional Council member said that the UOC has a lease for the Pochaiv Lavra until 2052, which can be cancelled, but the local authorities are not authorized to do so, reports zahid.espreso.tv.

The Ministry of Culture and the Kremenets-Pochaiv Historical and Architectural Reserve should undertake the "eviction" of the UOC, according to the head of the Office of Ethnopolitics, Freedom of Conscience and Digital Transformation of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Ternopil regional state administration, Ihor Kulchytsky.

According to him, there are mechanisms for the termination of the agreement, it is not the level of Ternopil regional administration, which has only local attractions on its balance sheet.

"This is not the competence of the Ternopil RMA. The Lavra has been taken on the balance sheet of the Kremenets-Pochaiv Historical and Architectural Reserve of the Pochaiv Holy Dormition Lavra. This is the structure of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine," Kulchytsky explained.

He said that about 20 years ago, the authorities handed over the Lavra to the UOC monastery for free use, but the UOC did not receive ownership of the shrine. This is also confirmed by the decision of the Ministry of Justice in 2018 when a special commission abolished the illegal re-registration of the complex of structures of the Pochaiv Lavra (the Dormition Cathedral, the Trinity Cathedral, monastic cells, the bishop's house, the bell tower, the overgate building) to the religious organization "Pochaiv Holy Dormition Lavra".

"In fact, the property remains on the balance of the reserve, hence the Ministry of Culture. It is just in the use of a legal entity – the Monastery of the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra. There are always mechanisms for the termination of these contracts, any lawyer will tell you that. Specifically, only the Ministry of Culture and the Reserve, which holds the Lavra, can initiate any steps in this situation," said Ihor Kulchytsky.

On December 21, 2022, the Ternopil Regional Council demanded that the Pochaiv Lavra become state property.

As reported, the Culture Minister commented on the situation with the lease of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra's churches.

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