The RISE Moldova portal published an investigation on June 16 alleging that the Moldovan authorities have been financially supporting the Orthodox Church for years: with budget payments, tax breaks and amnesties, as well as the transfer of state property for the use of clergy. Journalists of the portal clarify that we are talking about the nineties and two thousand years. But the current authorities do not refuse to support the clergy, despite the official legend that the state has never donated money Churches.
Journalists of the portal said that against the backdrop of the conflict over the church in the village of Dereneu, Kalarasi region, which has the status of a historical monument, they studied the reports of the Accounts Chamber and other financial documents concerning the interaction between the state and the church.
“In 2017, the archpriest of the Orhei Metropolis, Iulian Rată, told the media that since its founding, the Moldovan state has not donated a penny to the church, while the monasteries of Capriana and Curchi were the favorites in terms of financial investments,” the authors of the investigation noted, publishing the revealed details. Thus, according to the investigation, the predisposition of the Moldovan authorities to sponsor the church appeared immediately after gaining independence. In 1992, then-President Mircea Snegur declared that renovation work at the Capriana monastery complex was “of national importance” and granted tax breaks to all participants.
Further, in 1994-1995, more than 1 million lei from the state budget went to the reconstruction of almost 20 churches. In 1996, the state budget allocated 5 million lei for the restoration of objects of historical and cultural value – the Cathedral in Chisinau and the Curchi Monastery.
The investigation notes that this practice especially flourished in the 2000s, during the reign of the Communist Party under the leadership of Vladimir Voronin. Then the authorities announced nationwide campaigns, collecting funds for the reconstruction of religious buildings, and they themselves did not skimp on donations and benefits. Thus, in 2008, Metropolitan Vladimir indicated that the Metropolitanate of Moldova received 90 thousand lei from the state budget, adding that he considered this amount modest. That same year, the country’s state budget allocated 100 thousand lei for the repair of churches and monasteries, and a year later the state assumed the debt of the Curchi monastery – 25 million lei spent on restoration work.
And last year, RISE notes, the speaker of parliament and leader of the ruling PAS party, Igor Grosu, announced a national program for the restoration of religious buildings in the Old Orhei reservation for 20 million lei.
Accounts Chamber data
The portal provides reports from the Court of Accounts from 2003 to 2013, which show that during this period religious organizations received 16 million lei from the state – donations, subsidies, benefits and other assistance. At the same time, journalists believe that the real figure may be higher. For example, in Taraclia in 2017, the purchase of wooden frames for a church was “disguised” as the purchase of equipment for a local theater.
Tax and customs benefits
The portal also notes that the Church enjoys a preferential tax regime, having the exclusive right to produce and sell so-called “religious objects,” and the Code of Violations provides for fines for those who compete with the Church in this segment.
The investigation emphasizes that tax and customs benefits for the import of religious items were legalized only in 2018, after for many years parliament “as an exception” exempted from tax the import of church bells and various building materials intended for churches, and in half of the cases these were buildings with the status of historical monuments. The government has repeatedly tried to resist such tax injustice, noting that this is a dangerous precedent, but to no avail.
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