The Patriarch agreed with Putin on the transfer of Isaac ROC — RBC
St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko took the decision to transfer to St. Isaac’s Cathedral the Church only after the question joined Patriarch Kirill, according to RBC with reference to sources.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church approved the transfer of the Isaac Church personally with President Vladimir Putin, said the portal source in Church circles and two sources close to the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church. According to one of them, the consent of Putin was received in December and high-ranking officials in the Kremlin, including the first Deputy head of presidential administration Sergey Kiriyenko, the decision did not know.
Putin’s press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told RBC that the handover of religious objects “is not the prerogative of the President.” A high-ranking source of “Vedomosti” said on 17 February that the decision to transfer Isaccea the authorities of St.-Petersburg “with anyone, including with President Vladimir Putin, was not consistent”. He noted that in the form in which the solution is realized, “it’s not deliberate,” and that a compromise solution is possible in the joint use of the Cathedral.
Poltavchenko with Putin and the country’s leadership on the transfer of Isaac ROC is not said, reported RBC in February a Federal official. The decision Poltavchenko took after the meeting with Patriarch Kirill in December 2016, said RBC source in the Museum of St. Petersburg and two people close to the administration of the city. From 17 to 19 December in St. Petersburg held two receptions in honor of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, including in the state residence “K-2” on the Bank of Malaya Nevka river, at the reception of Isaakii not spoken a word, said to the portal participants. But in the evening held a private meeting of the Patriarch and Poltavchenko, said two other companion close to the city administration; there it was decided that Isaac would be transferred to the ROC.
Before the intervention of the Patriarch Georgy Poltavchenko took another position, found RBC. The portal quotes a letter from the Governor to the Minister of economic development Alexei Ulyukayev as of may 18, 2016, which the Governor opposed the transfer of Isaac after last year’s appeal of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Barsonophios to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with a request to assist in addressing this issue.