MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. The All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), the Federal Property Management Agency and the Federal Agency for Fisheries filed cassation appeals against the court’s decision to transfer the entire premises of the institute’s building in the center of Moscow for free use of the Patriarchal Metochion of the Alekseevsky Monastery. This was reported by the VNIRO press service.

“Rosimushchestvo, VNIRO and Rosrybolovstvo sent cassation appeals,” the statement says.

VNIRO building

"This building was built in the 30s of the twentieth century specifically for VNIRO (the building was built on a vacant lot, on which a solid foundation and a small part remained brickwork, they were not touched), has an appropriate layout, and over the past years it housed exclusively departments of the institute,” said the press service of Rosrybolovstvo, which controls VNIRO.

VNIRO is the leading institute of the Russian fisheries industry, its work makes a significant contribution to supporting Russian fisheries and ensuring the country's food security, the department noted. In addition, the building houses modern laboratories, including those with unique equipment.

Thus, the institute houses a unique aquaculture complex for sturgeon fish species, with strict requirements for chemical composition water, which is provided by a unique filtration system. The institute has one of the few molecular genetics laboratories in the capital and country with expensive equipment and a large volume expert works, the department emphasized.

Background

In 1692, on the site where the VNIRO building is now located (Verkhnyaya Krasnoselskaya St., 17), the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was built. IN Soviet years it was converted into a civil structure and completely lost its appearance.

Earlier, TASS reported that the Patriarchal Metochion of the Alekseevsky Monastery appealed to the court with a request to return to its use the VNIRO building, which, according to Church representatives, was rebuilt from a temple, on the basis of the institution’s destruction of the tomb of the abbess of the monastery.

As Church representatives stated, the remains of the abbess were taken out of the tomb in bags, after which a pool for breeding crabs was built at their resting place. In addition, they claim that the controversial building is a unique example for Moscow of a temple completely hidden within the volume of an administrative building.

The courts of the first and second instance ordered the Federal Property Management Agency to transfer all premises of the building for free use of the courtyard.

A new scandal erupted in the capital with the seizure of property for church needs under the restitution law. This time, the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) in the area of ​​the Krasnoselskaya metro station may lose its building. The courts of first instance have already supported the Russian Orthodox Church. He talks about this.

We are talking about a building that was built in the mid-1930s on the site of the destroyed Holy Cross Cathedral, which in the 19th century was part of the Alekseevsky Convent. During Soviet times, the territory of the monastery was rolled into asphalt, built up with new buildings and cut off by a highway.

According to former deputy director of VNIRO Yulia Zaitseva, the Holy Cross Cathedral, unlike many other churches, was demolished without the use of explosives - using a crane with a concrete weight. Because of this, the foundation and the remains of brickwork on the first floor survived. “The old foundation was so strong that they, like the surviving piece of the wall, decided not to touch it when the institute building began to be erected on the site of the cathedral,” says Zaitseva.

Later, the building of the institute was overgrown with extensions and new floors were added. In the 90s, it acquired its current appearance: a large five-story building in which several buildings are connected by passages. Entry is strictly by pass: the facility is secure. Today the building has the status of federal property.

"Built into the institute building"

In 2013, by decree of the patriarch, the Alekseevsky Convent was revived. But this happened in a greatly truncated form: now on the lands that once belonged to the monastery, there are, among other things, the Auchan hypermarket, underground parking lots and residential buildings, passes the Third Transport Ring. There is no information about the claims of the Russian Orthodox Church to these sites, but it confidently declared its rights to the VNIRO building, insisting that in the 30s the church was not destroyed, but simply “built into the building of the institute.” And, since it is now impossible to separate them, the entire building of the scientific institute must belong to the Church.

In November 2016, the arbitration court upheld the claim of the Russian Orthodox Church and decided to evict the research institute from the building and give it to the patriarchy. VNIRO, the Federal Fishery Agency, to which the research institute is structurally subordinate, and the Federal Property Management Agency filed an appeal.

According to Novy Gazeta, at the last meeting of the appeal court to consider complaints from VNIRO and Rosrybolovstvo at the end of January 2017, the head of the legal service of the Moscow Patriarchate, Abbess Ksenia Chernega, said that the building of the scientific institute would be destroyed and a church would be built in its place. Now the case should be considered by the presidium of the Moscow District Arbitration Court.

The All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography is the largest scientific center in this field in Russia. In addition to scientific libraries and a museum, the institute building houses 29 different laboratories. The building is uniquely waterproofed and adapted to maintain the necessary temperature regime for the needs of a specific laboratory. IN ground floor on an area of ​​300 sq. m is the pride of the institute - a unique aquarium complex with a network of specialized pools equipped with sophisticated equipment for observing fish at various stages of its development. The cost of all this equipment is estimated at several billion rubles. Scientists fear that if the building is demolished, years of scientific development will be at risk.

Let us recall that in Moscow the Russian Orthodox Church also lays claim to Bersenevskaya Embankment. As RBC calculated with reference to data from the Federal Property Management Agency, over the past four years the Orthodox Church has received over 270 pieces of property in 45 regions of the country. The Federal Property Management Agency clarified to Novaya Gazeta that in 2016 alone, 246 applications for the return of religious objects were received from religious organizations - 146 of them were satisfied.

“The information about the statement I allegedly made at the trial about the upcoming demolition of the VNIRO building is unreliable. I did not make such a statement and this is confirmed by the protocol and transcript of the court session,” she added.

According to the abbess, the metochion asks to transfer the institute building for free use to the church while maintaining it as federal property. “It is clear that the user cannot demolish an object owned by the state,” Chernega noted.

Another scandal involving the seizure of property for church needs. The Russian Orthodox Church believes that the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) occupies a building for “religious purposes.” Research institute employees are at a loss: 80 years ago this building was built specifically for the institute. Moreover, in the event of eviction from a building equipped with expensive and highly sensitive equipment, many years of scientific development will be at risk. But the Russian Orthodox Church is uncompromising.

The history of the controversial building's roots (more precisely, its foundation) goes back centuries.

In the 19th century, in the area of ​​the current Krasnoselskaya metro station (then Krasnoye Selo), the Alekseevsky Convent was located: in 1837 it was moved here from the very center of the capital, making room for the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The monastery's property included four churches and a huge historical cemetery. After the revolution, the monastery was liquidated, the cemetery was destroyed, and the churches were closed. Two of them were converted to meet new needs: the Church of Alexei the Man of God was given to the House of Pioneers, the monastery church of All Saints - to the district library. Two other churches - the Church of the Archangel Michael and the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross - were simply destroyed.

The territory of the monastery was rolled into asphalt, built up with new buildings and cut off by a highway (now it is a section of the Third Transport Ring in the area of ​​the Rusakovskaya overpass).

VNIRO building (left) and Alekseevskaya Church (right). Photo: Vlad Dokshin / Novaya Gazeta

“The All-Union Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography received a plot for the construction of a building in this area in the mid-30s, by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars,” says former deputy director of VNIRO Yulia Zaitseva. — Then it was actually a wasteland on the site of the destroyed Holy Cross Cathedral. Unlike many others, this church was demolished without the use of explosives - using a healthy crane with a concrete weight. That is why the foundation and the remains of brickwork on the first floor survived. The old foundation was so strong that it, like the surviving piece of the wall, was decided not to be touched when the institute building began to be erected on the site of the cathedral.”

Over the decades, the building of the institute was overgrown with extensions and new floors were added. In the 90s it acquired its current appearance: a large 5-story building complex design, in which several buildings are interconnected by transitions. The central entrance is decorated with columns and stucco on the pediment. Oak doors, a huge anchor at the entrance. Entry is strictly by pass: the facility is secure.
Now the building has the status of federal property.

Temple of Science

The All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography is the largest scientific center in this field in Russia. It has 12 affiliated research institutes throughout the country - from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad. Its head office alone employs more than 500 people, while the building occupies an area of ​​about 8,000 square meters. The entire fishing industry of our country rests on the scientific developments of VNIRO employees. It is these scientists who develop biological justifications for fish catch volumes, study environmental risks, and are in charge of “the study, protection and reproduction of all biological resources of the seas and fresh water Russia and the World Ocean."

In addition to scientific libraries and the museum, the institute building houses 29 different laboratories, the discoveries and achievements of almost each of which are known throughout the world.

On the ground floor, on an area of ​​300 square meters, there is the pride of the institute - a unique aquarium complex - a network of specialized fish pools, equipped with the most sophisticated equipment. This experimental complex is for observing fish at various stages of its development - from eggs and fry to adults. Daily observation and analysis of data then forms the basis of methods for artificial reproduction of fish, including for commercial fishing (for example, Pacific salmon in the ocean or Russian sturgeon in the Caspian Sea).

And the entire building - from the ground floor to the 5th floor - is equipped with the most complex high-tech filling. Its walls and floors are reliably waterproofed and adapted to maintain strictly required temperature conditions depending on the needs of each specific laboratory. The cost of all this equipment is several billion rubles. If this living scientific organism is thrown out of its environment, it will die.

Here is God - and here is the threshold

Research institute workers first learned about the church’s interest in their building in the early 2000s, when young Father Artemy, the priest of the surviving Church of All Saints (who returned to the church back in 1991), asked permission from the then director of the research institute, Boris Kotenev, to occasionally hold services in the small assembly hall Institute, in the wall of which fragments of the brickwork of the bell tower of the destroyed cathedral are preserved. The director was a pious man and allowed Father Artemy and his elderly parishioners to freely enter the sensitive facility. A few years later, in 2004, the Russian Orthodox Church made its first attempt to obtain the building, demanding that the Federal Property Management Agency transfer to it free of charge a number of “non-residential premises” at 17 Verkhnyaya Krasnoselskaya Street (that is, the institute building). However, at that time, the law on restitution had not yet been adopted, and officials with a light heart refused, informing the petitioners from the Russian Orthodox Church that the VNIRO building is not a church, is not intended for religious purposes, moreover: it does not even have the status of a monument protected by the state .

This seemed to be the end of the maneuvers around the institute building. But restoration work soon began in the Church of Alexei the Man of God, which is practically wall to wall adjacent to the building of the scientific institute. This church returned to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2002, and before that it had the status of municipal property and belonged to the city. In 2006, by decree His Holiness Patriarch Moscow and all Rus', the Patriarchal Metochion was founded on the territory of the Church of Alexei. This is a special church status, indicating the paramount importance of the parish for the Russian Orthodox Church, its being under the personal patronage of the patriarch (and not under the jurisdiction of the local diocese). The official name of the compound was as follows: “ Patriarchal Compound with the attributed (i.e., meant) Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.” But then no one paid attention to this detail.

Alekseevsky Monastery. Photo: Vlad Dokshin / Novaya Gazeta

In 2013, by decree of the Patriarch, the long-destroyed Alekseevsky Convent was revived - however, in a greatly truncated form: now the lands that once belonged to the monastery are home to the AUCHAN hypermarket, huge underground parking lots and residential buildings, and the Third Transport Ring runs through. Nevertheless, the revival of the monastery also came under the personal patronage of the Patriarch. That is why, in addition to its name, the monastery received the title “stauropegic” (the word “stauropegia” translated from Greek means “planting of the cross”; this title is assigned to those monasteries that are directly subordinate to the Patriarch). The recreated monastery was headed by the head of the legal service of the Moscow Patriarchate, Mother Ksenia Chernega, a person especially close to Kirill.

In the world, Ksenia Chernega graduated from the Law Academy, and, having taken monastic vows, quickly gained a reputation as a fierce fighter for the acquisition of previously secular real estate into church property. It was she who achieved from the Government of the Russian Federation the introduction of a simplified form of financial reporting for religious organizations, participated in the development of the program for the school subject “Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics”, and was also one of the authors of a number of sensational laws: “On the Protection of the Feelings of Believers”, “On the Transfer of religious organizations property for religious purposes." Under her personal leadership, claims for the return of real estate to the church were put on stream. And in the dispute between the Russian Orthodox Church and VNIRO, Mother Ksenia, as the abbess of the monastery, is also a person with a vested interest. And it is she who represents the interests of the Patriarchate in court.

In 2016, the Moscow Patriarchate filed a lawsuit to reclaim the building of the research institute. The claims of the Russian Orthodox Church are based on the Law “On the return of property for religious purposes to religious organizations,” adopted in 2010. According to it, “monastic, temple and other religious complexes built for the implementation or provision of ... divine services” must be returned to the Church.

The building of the Alekseevskaya Church. Photo: Vlad Dokshin / Novaya Gazeta

In the lawsuit filed by the Moscow Patriarchate against VNIRO, the institute complex is referred to solely as a “church building.” Although outwardly the huge angular building of the research institute least of all resembles Orthodox church. The case contains an art criticism examination commissioned by the Russian Orthodox Church, art expert of the private research and design restoration enterprise “Simargl” M.G. Karpova. This examination not only describes every brick in the walls of the ground and first floors of the research institute, preserved after the demolition of the church in the 30s, but even something more. “The elongated refectory retains the tray vault, which is hemmed. The western wall of the refectory is moved away from the pylons of the bell tower. The base of the bell tower is connected by an arch to a surviving fragment of the narthex of the southern aisle from the middle of the 19th century,” and so on, step by step, art historian Karpova leads to the conclusion that in the 30s the church was not destroyed, but simply “built into the building of the institute.” And, since it is now impossible to separate them, the entire building of the scientific institute must belong to the Church.

It is curious that art critic Karpova’s examination does not include any photographs: they are not included in the file at all. Everything that is described in the examination concerns the ground floor (that is, actually the basement) of the institute, where massive masonry is really visible in places. But in the assembly hall and part of the lobby, only some kind of “non-scientific” curvature of the walls reminds of the church that stood on this place. It is impossible to determine by eye where the bricks belonged to the monastery and where they were already Soviet. Only an architectural examination could establish this, but it is not in the case. The case does not mention the most complex engineering work that was carried out during the construction of the research institute building - waterproofing walls, floors and ceilings, their special re-stitching and filling. For the Russian Orthodox Church, all this research would clearly be of no use. But the Federal Property Management Agency, which owns the VNIRO building, was somehow not concerned. At the same time, neither VNIRO nor Rosrybolovstvo, until the last moment, could have imagined that the church seriously intended to take away the institute’s building. “We found out about this when we were summoned to court,” says Yulia Zaitseva, “there was no time to prepare.” The position of the Federal Property Management Agency is also unchanged. “We fully support the implementation of the law on restitution,” the head of the press service, Arina Lazareva, commented on the situation to Novaya Gazeta. “Statistics also testify to this. Since the adoption of Federal Law No. 327-FZ of November 30, 2010, the Federal Property Management Agency has received more than 900 applications from religious organizations of all faiths. A large proportion of applications are appeals from the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 2016, the Federal Property Management Agency received 246 applications from religious organizations for the transfer of religious objects. Of these, 146 objects were transferred, more than 90% for the use of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

In November 2016, the Arbitration Court satisfied the Church’s claim and decided to evict the research institute from the building and give it to the Moscow Patriarchate. VNIRO, the federal fisheries agency to which the research institute is structurally subordinate, and the Federal Property Management Agency filed an appeal.

Territories of the Alekseevsky Monastery. Photo: Vlad Dokshin / Novaya Gazeta

At the last meeting of the appeal court to consider complaints from VNIRO and Rosrybolovstvo at the end of January 2017, Abbess Ksenia Chernega said: “The building of the scientific institute will be destroyed. A church will be rebuilt in its place.”

The court upheld the decision of the first instance to evict the scientific institute from the building. Now all hope lies with the Presidium of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District.

Its own burden

It is obvious that the proposed demolition of the research institute and the subsequent construction of a new temple in its place is an extremely expensive undertaking. However - and this circumstance has been repeatedly noticed by everyone who monitors the fate of the returned property of the church - the Russian Orthodox Church is more willing to invest in new shiny construction than in the salvation and restoration of historical churches. Thus, the Alekseevsky Convent, which is now headed by Mother Ksenia, is in a deplorable state. At the gates of the Church of All Saints hangs a large notice asking parishioners to donate money for the restoration of the cathedral, which is collapsing: “Multiple chips, delaminations, cracks... lack storm sewer and waterproofing the foundation leads to its systematic wetting and can lead to complete destruction.

The nuns of the monastery inhale harmful fumes from abundant fungal formations around the clock. We ask everyone who cares not to refuse support.” The temple workers, when asked why the temple is not being restored, sadly shrug their shoulders: “We have no money. And our mother is a very busy person.”

VNIRO building. Photo: Vlad Dokshin / Novaya Gazeta

P.S.

Novaya Gazeta turned to the Synodal Department for Relations of the Church with Society and the Media with a request to comment on the situation around the research institute building.

According to employees of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), Abbess Chernega, candidate of legal sciences, former professor of the department of civil law disciplines of the Moscow Academy of Economics and Law, tonsured a monk in 2009, was misled.

Based on unverified data, Mother Superior Ksenia stated that “the first floors of the building are even rented out to small entrepreneurs.” The shops and services listed by her refer to the neighboring building, which is located at st. Verkhnyaya Krasnoselskaya, 17A, and have no relation to the building of the Federal Property Management Agency, located at st. Verkhnyaya Krasnoselskaya, 17, which is currently entirely occupied by VNIRO. The Institute, in turn, does not rent out and has never rented out premises, even during difficult times. Russian science 90s.

A similar situation with the building on the street. Izhorskaya, 7. There is a large base with many warehouses, built in Soviet times as industrial premises, having a single number designation. Also located in this complex is the famous fishing company Meridian. VNIRO occupies only part of the premises in which there are no tenants and never have been. In addition, this building is not intended for the numerous VNIRO laboratories equipped with highly sensitive equipment, many of which are located in special isolated rooms.

Also, Mother Superior Ksenia refers to the fact that basement The VNIRO building was previously the tomb of the temple. This information was not documented in the archives and the fact of its “barbaric destruction” was not documented by VNIRO. If indeed this event took place during the perestroika years Russian history When the VNIRO aquaculture complex was created, scientists regret it. There were also no facts of crab sales at the institute. According to the state assignment and in accordance with the development of Russian aquaculture, VNIRO scientists in experimental laboratories breed not only crustaceans, but also valuable fish species. This product is used for scientific purposes only and is not intended for sale.

Ksenia Chernega herself personally refused to make contact with VNIRO, never met with the leadership of the institute and did not visit the building. At the same time, in the early 2000s, at the request of parishioners, joint Sunday events were actually held in the institute building, prayers were read, and at that time none of the VNIRO employees could imagine that 17 years later, scientists would be accused of destroying temple holy relics.

Abbess Ksenia claims that “the information about the supposedly functioning numerous branches of VNIRO is also untrue.” Such presentation of material is incorrect. VNIRO never stated that it had 12 branches, but said that the scientific support system of the Federal Fisheries Agency consists of the head institute (VNIRO) and 12 subordinate basin institutes. This is reflected in orders of the Federal Fisheries Agency No. 185 of 03/04/2015 and No. 51 of 01/27/2017, where the role of VNIRO was strengthened in order to improve management efficiency scientific activity industry research institutes.

“We respect the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the entire history of Russia. Today, the Arbitration Courts are deciding the issue of property disputes between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state represented by the Federal Property Management Agency. It is sad to realize that in an attempt to obtain a building with an area of ​​8,000 square meters in the center of Moscow, the parties are ready to distort information. Regardless of the decisions taken in the future, the staff of the institute asks not to offend the dignity of the oldest scientific institution of fisheries science, within whose walls scientists work who are recognized not only in Russian scientific circles, but also in the international arena. Our institute has something to be proud of. The history of its foundation goes back to end of the 19th century century, or rather, by 1881, and we are not ashamed of our results in front of the citizens of Russia,” said VNIRO director Kirill Kolonchin.

Another scandal broke out in Moscow around the former property of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to Novaya Gazeta, the Russian Orthodox Church demands that the building of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) be demolished and a church built in its place.

The Russian Orthodox Church believes that the institute occupies a building for religious purposes. Once upon a time there was a Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross on this site, which was destroyed. Then at this place for a long time there was a wasteland. In the 30s of the last century, the All-Union Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography received a plot for the construction of a building in this area.

Yulia Zaitseva, former deputy director of VNIRO:

Then it was actually a wasteland on the site of the destroyed Holy Cross Cathedral. Unlike many others, this church was demolished without the use of explosives - using a healthy crane with a concrete weight. That is why the foundation and the remains of brickwork on the first floor survived. The old foundation was so strong that it, like the surviving piece of the wall, was decided not to be touched when the institute building began to be erected on the site of the cathedral.

Now the institute is a large 5-story building of complex design, in which several buildings are connected by passages.

Vlad Dokshin / Novaya Gazeta

The All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography is the largest scientific center in this field in Russia. The entire fishing industry of our country rests on the scientific developments of VNIRO employees. It is these scientists who develop biological justifications for fish catch volumes, study environmental risks, and are in charge of the study, protection and reproduction of all biological resources of the seas and fresh waters of Russia and the World Ocean.

On the ground floor, on an area of ​​300 square meters, is the pride of the institute: a unique aquarium complex - a network of specialized fish pools, equipped with sophisticated equipment.

The entire building - from the ground floor to the 5th floor - is equipped with the most complex high-tech filling. Its walls and floors are reliably waterproofed and adapted to maintain strictly required temperature conditions depending on the needs of each specific laboratory. The cost of all this equipment is several billion rubles.

Vlad Dokshin / Novaya Gazeta

According to Novaya Gazeta, in 2004, the Russian Orthodox Church made its first attempt to obtain the building, demanding that the Federal Property Management Agency transfer the institute building to it free of charge. Officials responded that the building is not a church and does not even have the status of a state-protected monument.

In 2016, the Moscow Patriarchate filed a lawsuit to reclaim the building of the research institute. The claims of the Russian Orthodox Church are based on the Law “On the return of property for religious purposes to religious organizations,” adopted in 2010. According to it, monastery, temple and other religious complexes built to carry out or provide... divine services must be returned to the church.

In November 2016, the Arbitration Court satisfied the church’s claim and decided to evict the research institute from the building and give it to the Moscow Patriarchate.

At the last meeting of the appeal court to consider complaints from VNIRO and Rosrybolovstvo at the end of January 2017, Abbess Ksenia Chernega said: “The building of the scientific institute will be destroyed. A church will be rebuilt in its place.”

The court upheld the decision of the first instance to evict the scientific institute from the building. Now all hope lies with the Presidium of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District.