What kind of yacht does Patriarch Kirill have. Why does the patriarch need a yacht with a pagan name and state emblems. Land transport of Patriarch Kirill

15/06/2011

A scandal is gaining momentum in the Russian Orthodox Church over accusations of servility to secular authorities and other sins against Patriarch Kirill.

O nline812 new details revealed secular life Orthodox leaders. As it turned out, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and his subordinates use one of the most luxurious yachts in Russia and at the same time exploit symbols not very legally. state power RF.

Small boat for $4,000,000

The black yacht "Pallada" with tinted windows, with Russian emblems on the sides and a tricolor on the stern is moored at the Nikolsky Skete of the Valaam Archipelago. Not far from here is the Valaam residence of the Patriarch. "Pallada" almost always stands here - its own pier has been built for it. Against the background of St. Nicholas Church, it looks like a presidential limousine against the backdrop of the Kremlin.

According to local residents, VIP guests arriving on Valaam ride on the yacht, and Patriarch Kirill himself loves it. Last September, for example, His Holiness made a voyage along the Volga on the Pallada.

The yacht is designed for comfortable accommodation of 8 people plus there are cabins for four crew members. On board there is a living room with a home cinema and bar counter, a dining room with a dining table for 8 people and several bedrooms, some of which have king-sized double beds. The floors are covered with white carpets. White leather furniture made from elite breeds tree.

The yacht is equipped with modern equipment: including an electronic cartography system, radar station SONAR, a navigational warning receiver, docking cameras and a bow thruster.

When Patriarch Kirill traveled on the Pallada to the Yaroslavl and Rostov diocese, his press service, which covered this event through the secular media, delicately referred to the Pallada as a "small ship."

Compared to cruise ships, the Pallada is really small: 32 meters long and about 8 meters wide. Its cost, according to various estimates, is $4 - 6.7 million. Annual maintenance of such yachts costs an average of 10 - 20 percent of the cost.

Putin and Pallas

Before serving the Patriarch, "Pallada" belonged to the Administration of the President of Russia. Then Vladimir Putin was president.

They say that the yacht was specially built for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, so that the head of state could adequately welcome guests of the sea capital of Russia on it. On the same yacht, Vladimir Putin took part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 1250th anniversary of Staraya Ladoga.

In 2005, Pallada was donated to the Russian Orthodox Church. But not directly by the president, but through an “intermediary”. From the property of the Manager of Affairs, the yacht was bought by Lukoil, and then the oil workers donated it to the church. Most likely, the donation scheme was built in advance on highest level through mutual agreements between leaders of business, church and government.

This assumption was confirmed on the website of the Valaam monastery. The monks honestly wrote that "the yacht was purchased oil company"Lukoil" especially for the subsequent transfer to the Russian Orthodox Church in the person of the Valaam Monastery. Keyword here “on purpose”: that is, the oilmen bought the yacht from Kozhin’s department “on order”.

Accepting a yacht with the pagan name "Pallas" as a gift, the holy fathers promised to give it a more appropriate Orthodox name - "The Tsaritsa". As explained on the website of the Valaam Monastery - in honor of the Icon Mother of God, called "The Tsaritsa", written on Athos and donated to the Valaam Monastery by the Athos brethren. Now this icon is one of the shrines of the monastery and is located in the church of St. Sergius and Herman of Valaam.

Will the Mother of God wait?

Six years have passed since the yacht was “churched”, but the pagan “Pallada” has not been baptized into the Orthodox “All-Tsaritsa”. And even the state emblems that were assigned to her by status while the President of Russia was on the yacht still flaunt on her sides.

Although use the coat of arms Russian Federation anywhere prohibited by the federal constitutional law "On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation." It lists all cases when, where and by whom the coat of arms of Russia can be used. The case with the yacht "Pallada" is not described in it. That is, the Russian Orthodox Church does not have the right to use state emblems on its ship ... But it does.

Holy places for VIP guests

Online812 contacted the Valaam Monastery, which is in charge of the Pallada yacht today. According to Mikhail Shishkov, the press secretary of Bishop Pankraty, hegumen of the monastery, a specially trained monk, a professional sailor, manages the yacht. Previously, this monk worked on other monastic ships, and then rose to the captain of the Pallada.

The yacht operates in its own mode - for VIP guests, - Mikhail Shishkov explained. - And nobody knows about them when they come and go. Guests often arrive under security, so no one is given access to this information.
The bishop's press secretary could not explain why the church yacht was decorated with the emblems of Russia.

Maybe the coats of arms are attached so that they cannot be removed? - he suggested and advised to turn to the bishop's assistant for legal issues, Leonid Medvedev.

Lawyer Medvedev gave a competent answer:
- Well, what to do? It happened! - he said. - And why do you care? Please contact the state authorities in the prescribed manner that there is a violation ... Maybe it really does take place?

The press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' put forward a different version:
“Probably, they decided not to simply remove the coat of arms for greater beauty,” says Deacon Alexander Volkov, deputy head of the press service. - Most likely, no one thought that it was illegal. It seems that the coat of arms is a worthy and appropriate symbol in any place, on any vehicle. So if it's there, why remove it?

Pallada is a pagan name, why was the yacht not renamed "All-Tsaritsa"?
- Not renamed - and not renamed, - says Deacon Alexander. - We have a lot of pagan names and symbols that no longer have any basis and are simply used as proper names. There is no need to see any additional meanings and something else in this.

According to Alexander Volkov, the Pallada yacht is on the balance sheet of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Church pays for its maintenance. How much does it cost in Valaam monastery They did not want to answer, citing the “incorrectness” of the question.

What punishment threatens the owners of "Pallada"

Article 17.10. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation “Violation of the procedure for official use state symbols RF"
Violation of the order of official use State flag Russian Federation, the State Emblem of the Russian Federation or national anthem RF - entails imposition administrative fine for citizens in the amount of 2 thousand to 3 thousand rubles;

on officials- from 5 thousand to 7 thousand rubles;
on legal entities- from 100 thousand to 150 thousand rubles.

What is Patriarch Kirill accused of?

The scandal within the Russian Orthodox Church flared up at the end of March, when open letter Patriarch Kirill was approached by several priests of the Izhevsk and Udmurt diocese - Archpriest Sergiy Kondakov, rector of St. Nicholas Church in the village of Zavyalova, member of the Public Chamber Udmurt Republic; Archpriest Mikhail Karpeev, rector of the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Yagul and rector of the church of St. Basil the Great in the village of Khokhryaki; priest Alexander Malykh, priest cathedral Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, Candidate of Theological Sciences.
The letter, according to Regions.Ru, says in particular.

“... We strongly ask you to stop the shameful practice of blind conciliation with the authorities and all kinds of flirting with moneybags ... We cannot but be embarrassed by the ease with which church awards, orders with images of saints are distributed to representatives of government and business ... We strongly ask that You, Your Holiness, have taken care that our people see you not only blessing and kissing the representatives of the highest authorities, but also denouncing them... caressed the mighty of the world this, immersed in luxury .... We strongly ask to put an end to the atrocities of those clergy, including very high-ranking ones, who indulge in shameful mortal sins. The sin of sodomy ... thrives, destroying the Church from within ... "

In response to this letter, its authors received, in their words, "pressure that has nothing to do with Christianity." At the end of May, the rebellious clerics announced that they were leaving the Russian Orthodox Church for the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. They left another farewell letter to the patriarch, in which they stated that "the cult of the personality of the Patriarch of Moscow could destroy our Russian Orthodox Church."

This is not the first such scandal in the Russian Orthodox Church. The accusations of the Udmurt priests practically repeat the statements of the former Bishop of Chukotka, Diomede, made in 2007. As a result, Diomede, likewise, with a small group of adherents, went into schism.

Yacht "Pallada"

total length- 32 m

Width- 7.45 m

Draft at full load- 1.8 m

Cruising speed- 12.5 knots

Power reserve- 2500 nautical miles

Fuel supply- 24 000 l

Stock fresh water - 3000 l

Engines- 2 x Caterpillar 3196 (2x374 hp)

Materials hull/superstructure- steel / aluminum-magnesium alloy
Class- Det Nordske Veritas (DNV) +1A1 LC Yacht R0 E0. Complies with ISA requirements

Guest accommodation- 8 people in 4 cabins

Crew- 4 people in 2 cabins

designer- Guido de Groot Design/Guinton Naval Architects/MSCZ

Interior design- Guido de Groot Design

About the history of the creation of the yacht:
The Timmerman Yachts consortium is trying to create the world's leading manufacturer of luxury yachts on the basis of the Moscow shipbuilding plant, which produced river trams.
MSSS specialists went on an internship at Dutch shipyards. The plant itself was modernized and "moved" from trams to yachts. The very first 31-meter sample with the sonorous name "Pallada" was commissioned by the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. True, President Vladimir Putin visited his "Pallada" only twice: already in 2005 the yacht was purchased by LUKOIL specifically to present it as a gift to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery.
(from here)

Fuel company "LUKOIL" donated the ship "Pallada" to the monastery.
The yacht "Pallada" will become the tenth vessel of the monastery fleet and will soon change its worldly name to one more befitting of its new status. By tradition, passenger ships on Valaam bear church names. There are motor ships "Hegumen Damaskin", "Saint Nicholas", "Saint Alexy" here. "Pallada" will be called "The Tsaritsa". The icon of the Mother of God "The Tsaritsa", painted on Mount Athos and donated to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery by the Athos brethren two years ago, is now one of the shrines of the monastery.
The yacht was built at the Moscow Shipyard and launched in 2003. For two years it was at the disposal of the presidential administration, and this year it was acquired by LUKOIL specifically for subsequent transfer to the Valaam Monastery, the largest and most visited island monastery in Russia. This gift is part of the program charitable assistance companies of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“Tens of thousands of people visit Valaam every year,” says Bishop Pankraty, abbot of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery. — We have heads of state, distinguished foreign guests, heads of local Orthodox churches. And it is good that now we will be able to properly receive guests of honor who wish to get acquainted with our monastery and touch its shrines with their souls.

Under the "proper level" is meant not only comfort, but also the safety of swimming. The Pallada's interior is quite modest, but it is equipped with a set of the most modern navigation equipment. Ladoga is not the calmest place for navigation and is well known to sailors for its whims.
(from here)

2005 year. Lukoil donates a yacht to the Valaam Monastery:
“The idea to donate a yacht to the Valaam Monastery was born in the company not by chance. The significance of this monastery in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church is very great, it is often called Northern Athos. tens of thousands of people visit, including state leaders, distinguished foreign guests, heads of Local Orthodox Churches.
The yacht complies with all Russian and international standards for vessels of this class, and a set of modern equipment ensures high safety of navigation. This is important in the conditions of Ladoga, which is known for its obstinate character and is considered quite difficult for navigation. The vessel can sail with wave heights up to 3.5 meters and wind speeds up to 24 m/s. The Valaam monk, a professional sailor, will operate the crew boat. Having merged into the monastery fleet, the Pallas will receive a new name and will be called the All-Tsaritsa. The icon of the Mother of God, called "The Tsaritsa", painted on Mount Athos and donated to the Valaam Monastery by the Athos brethren two years ago, is now one of the shrines of the monastery and is located in the church of St. Sergius and Herman of Valaam.
(from here)

About content issues:
The monks sincerely thanked for the generous gift, promising to replace the romantic name "Pallada" with the more familiar name for the brethren - "The Tsaritsa", in honor of one of the shrines of the monastery, the icon of the Mother of God.
All day, the astonished monks walked around the luxurious ship. The next morning, the inappropriate poster was taken down. And on the third day they thought about what to do with an expensive gift.
- Problems began in a couple of weeks, - one of the inhabitants of the monastery, father Vasily, told "Life". - Serious money is needed to maintain a fabulously expensive ship. Nobody left them for us. We calculated that only for polish and special shampoos you need up to 20 thousand rubles a month. Where? And if the yacht is not looked after, it will fall apart before our eyes. Moreover, the salary of the team (they are used to receiving in the capital), provisions, fuel. We grabbed our heads. Of course, a noble gift, no words. But for us monks, it is out of place. Only leads to confusion.
After consulting, the holy fathers sent the yacht to St. Petersburg, and from there to the capital - at the disposal of the Moscow Patriarchate. Like, let the higher authorities deal with her.
14.11.2005
(from here)

2005: "The Pallada yacht, donated in July to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam stauropegial monastery, was sent for repair and winter storage to the Moscow shipyard," Interfax was told in the press service of the monastery. churches" by the company "LUKOIL". "Pallada" will return to the monastery only in May next year.
With the onset of cold weather, the yacht must be placed in a closed box, because it is too "fragile" and cannot withstand the pressure of ice. In addition, Pallada needs minor repairs, the press officer explained.
(from here)

Interview with Bishop Pankraty, Abbot of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery:
...
— They say that Vladimir Putin donated to the monastery an ultra-modern yacht "Pallada" worth 1.5 million euros. Why do you need her?
- I'll make it clear. Pallada is not a gift from the president, but from LUKOIL. And besides, the gift is not to the Valaam Monastery, but to the entire Orthodox Church. This was emphasized by the oilmen themselves. The yacht, like the residence, serves for representative purposes. We proceed from the conviction that you can live in cells yourself, but guests should be received with dignity. It would be another matter if the monks themselves went fishing on this yacht!
(from here)

So:
Absolutely predictably, hamsters began to suck on "luxury" and traditionally remember "taxpayers' money" (I wonder if at least 1% of them pay taxes honestly and in full?).
However, there were also adequate users - who, before running away shouting "repost!" decided to check the information.
It turned out that the Russian Orthodox Church did not buy the yacht - it was bought by Lukoil from the balance sheet of the Presidential Administration and donated by the oil corporation to the Valaam Monastery.
In 2005, he reported official portal Republic of Karelia "Yacht" Pallada "from the presidential fleet, redeemed by the oil company" LUKOIL "for the Russian Orthodox Church, donated today to the Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery". The media also notice that "the gift for the monks turned out to be unexpectedly expensive and troublesome. The yacht went to the monks along with echo sounders, mooring cameras, unique interiors and a crew of four. The maintenance of yachts of this class usually amounts to at least 10% of the price of the yacht itself per year, "so she was returned for storage and cosmetic repairs to the Moscow Shipyard. Later, after undergoing cosmetic repairs and optimization of equipment and interiors, she was returned to the Patriarchy. " So the ship was donated to the late Patriarch Alexy II, did not belong to the president for long, and was never officially registered with him at all," the meticulous bloggers report.

Quite expectedly, "dissenters" joined the movement. And even when it turned out that the Russian Orthodox Church did not buy this yacht, they did not calm down, "turning the arrows" on Putin. Vaughn, they write, "Earlier, Putin constantly swam on this luxury." But here, too, the Gavriks got into trouble - yacht resources write that "the president was on the yacht only a few times when he came as a pilgrim to Valaam." And the specialists neigh "Something like a cabin looks rather poor, a boat was recently made at our shipbuilding plant - a simple one, a floating base for river submariners, and then it has a cooler cabin", "our office has a corporate ship, so the situation will be richer there." And, of course, when the Patriarch is reminded of an armored limousine (say, "what is he afraid of?") - that the Pope of Rome will have a more armored car, and Christian leaders - the declared goal No. 1 of Islamic terrorists, people "forget".

Of course, on the issue of luxurious decoration Orthodox churches and the clothes of the clergy have long been broken more than one thousand copies, however, speaking of similar traditions of Christianity, some users report "Christ, by the way, did not wear rags, but walked in whole-woven clothes, which only kings and very rich people could then afford." To the question "why not sell a luxurious yacht and feed the poor," they quote "Mary, taking a pound of pure precious ointment, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the world. Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who wanted to betray Him, said: Why not sell this ointment for three hundred denarii and give it to the poor?

New details of the secular life of Orthodox leaders have become known. As it turned out, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and his subordinates use one of the most luxurious yachts in Russia and, at the same time, exploit symbols of the state power of the Russian Federation not very legally.

The black yacht "Pallada" with tinted windows, with Russian emblems on the sides and a tricolor on the stern is moored at the Nikolsky Skete of the Valaam Archipelago. Not far from here is the Valaam residence of the Patriarch. "Pallada" almost always stands here - its own pier has been built for it. Against the background of St. Nicholas Church, it looks like a presidential limousine against the backdrop of the Kremlin.

According to local residents, VIP guests arriving on Valaam ride on the yacht, and Patriarch Kirill himself loves it. Last September, for example, His Holiness made a voyage along the Volga on the Pallada.

"Pallada" is an exclusive luxury vessel, its description can be found in the catalogs of the most famous yachts. It was built at the shipyards of the Dutch-Russian consortium Timmerman Yachts in 2003 by the Dutch architect Guido de Groot.

The yacht is designed for comfortable accommodation of 8 people plus there are cabins for four crew members. On board there is a living room with a home cinema and bar counter, a dining room with a dining table for 8 people and several bedrooms, some of which have king-sized double beds. The floors are covered with white carpets. White leather furniture is made of elite woods.

The yacht is equipped with modern equipment, including an electronic mapping system, a SONAR radar station, a navigational warning receiver, mooring cameras and a bow thruster.

When Patriarch Kirill traveled on the Pallada to the Yaroslavl and Rostov diocese, his press service, which covered this event through the secular media, delicately called the Pallada a "small ship."

Compared to cruise ships, the Pallada is really small: 32 meters long and about 8 meters wide. Its cost, according to various estimates, is $4 - 6.7 million. Annual maintenance of such yachts costs an average of 10 - 20 percent of the cost.

Putin and Pallas

Before serving the Patriarch, "Pallada" belonged to the Administration of the President of Russia. Then Vladimir Putin was president.

They say that the yacht was specially built for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, so that the head of state could adequately welcome guests of the sea capital of Russia on it. On the same yacht, Vladimir Putin took part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 1250th anniversary of Staraya Ladoga.

In 2005, Pallada was donated to the Russian Orthodox Church. But not directly by the president, but through an “intermediary”. From the property of the Manager of Affairs, the yacht was bought by Lukoil, and then the oil workers donated it to the church. Most likely, the donation scheme was built in advance at the highest level through mutual agreements between the leaders of business, church and government.

This assumption was confirmed on the website of the Valaam Monastery. The monks honestly wrote that "the yacht was purchased by the Lukoil oil company specifically for the subsequent transfer to the Russian Orthodox Church in the person of the Valaam Monastery." The key word here is "specially": that is, the oilmen bought the yacht from Kozhin's department "on order."

Accepting a yacht with the pagan name "Pallas" as a gift, the holy fathers promised to give it a more appropriate Orthodox name - "The Tsaritsa". As explained on the website of the Valaam Monastery - in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God, called the "Tsaritsa", written on Athos and donated to the Valaam Monastery by the Athos brethren. Now this icon is one of the shrines of the monastery and is located in the church of St. Sergius and Herman of Valaam.

Will the Mother of God wait?

Six years have passed since the yacht was “churched”, but the pagan “Pallada” has not been baptized into the Orthodox “All-Tsaritsa”. And even the state emblems that were assigned to her by status while the President of Russia was on the yacht still flaunt on her sides.

Although it is forbidden to use the coat of arms of the Russian Federation anywhere by the federal constitutional law "On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation." It lists all cases when, where and by whom the coat of arms of Russia can be used. The case with the yacht "Pallada" is not described in it. That is, the Russian Orthodox Church does not have the right to use state emblems on its ship ... But it does.

Holy places for VIP guests

Online812 contacted the Valaam Monastery, which is in charge of the Pallada yacht today. According to Mikhail Shishkov, the press secretary of Bishop Pankraty, hegumen of the monastery, a specially trained monk, a professional sailor, manages the yacht. Previously, this monk worked on other monastic ships, and then rose to the captain of the Pallada.

The yacht operates in its own mode - for VIP guests, - Mikhail Shishkov explained. - And nobody knows about them when they come and go. Guests often arrive under security, so no one is given access to this information.
The bishop's press secretary could not explain why the church yacht was decorated with the emblems of Russia.

Maybe the coats of arms are attached so that they cannot be removed? - he suggested and advised to turn to the bishop's assistant for legal issues, Leonid Medvedev.

Lawyer Medvedev gave a competent answer:
- Well, what to do? It happened! - he said. - And why do you care? Please contact the state authorities in the prescribed manner that there is a violation ... Maybe it really does take place?

The press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' put forward a different version:
“Probably, they decided not to simply remove the coat of arms for greater beauty,” says Deacon Alexander Volkov, deputy head of the press service. - Most likely, no one thought that it was illegal. It seems that the coat of arms is a worthy and appropriate symbol in any place, on any vehicle. So if it's there, why remove it?

Pallada is a pagan name, why was the yacht not renamed "All-Tsaritsa"?
- Not renamed - and not renamed, - says Deacon Alexander. - We have a lot of pagan names and symbols that no longer have any basis and are simply used as proper names. There is no need to see any additional meanings and something else in this.

According to Alexander Volkov, the Pallada yacht is on the balance sheet of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Church pays for its maintenance. How much it costs, the Valaam Monastery did not want to answer, citing the “incorrectness” of the question.

What punishment threatens the owners of "Pallada"

Article 17.10. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation "Violation of the procedure for the official use of state symbols of the Russian Federation"

Violation of the procedure for the official use of the State Flag of the Russian Federation, the State Emblem of the Russian Federation or the National Anthem of the Russian Federation - shall entail the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of 2,000 to 3,000 rubles;
for officials - from 5 thousand to 7 thousand rubles;
for legal entities - from 100 thousand to 150 thousand rubles.

What is Patriarch Kirill accused of?

A scandal within the Russian Orthodox Church flared up at the end of March, when several priests of the Izhevsk and Udmurt diocese addressed Patriarch Kirill with an open letter - Archpriest Sergiy Kondakov, rector of St. Nicholas Church in the village of Zavyalova, member of the Public Chamber of the Udmurt Republic; Archpriest Mikhail Karpeev, rector of the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Yagul and rector of the church of St. Basil the Great in the village of Khokhryaki; Priest Alexander Malykh, Priest of the Cathedral of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky, Candidate of Theological Sciences.

The letter, according to Regions.Ru, says in particular.

“... We strongly ask you to stop the shameful practice of blind conciliation with the authorities and all kinds of flirting with moneybags ... We cannot but be embarrassed by the ease with which church awards, orders with images of saints are distributed to representatives of government and business ... We strongly ask that You, Your Holiness, have taken care that our people see you not only blessing and kissing the representatives of the highest authorities, but also denouncing them... caressed by the powerful of this world, immersed in luxury .... We strongly ask to put an end to the atrocities of those clergy, including very high-ranking ones, who indulge in shameful mortal sins. The sin of sodomy ... thrives, destroying the Church from within ... "

In response to this letter, its authors received, in their words, "pressure that has nothing to do with Christianity." At the end of May, the rebellious clerics announced that they were leaving the Russian Orthodox Church for the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. They left another farewell letter to the patriarch, in which they stated that "the cult of the personality of the Patriarch of Moscow could destroy our Russian Orthodox Church."

This is not the first such scandal in the Russian Orthodox Church. The accusations of the Udmurt priests practically repeat the statements of the former Bishop of Chukotka, Diomede, made in 2007. As a result, Diomede, likewise, with a small group of adherents, went into schism.

Yacht "Pallada"

total length- 32 m
Width- 7.45 m
Draft at full load- 1.8 m
Cruising speed- 12.5 knots
Power reserve- 2500 nautical miles
Fuel supply- 24 000 l
Fresh water supply- 3000 l
Engines- 2 x Caterpillar 3196 (2x374 hp)
Materials hull/superstructure- steel / aluminum-magnesium alloy
Class- Det Nordske Veritas (DNV) +1A1 LC Yacht R0 E0. Complies with ISA requirements
Guest accommodation- 8 people in 4 cabins
Crew- 4 people in 2 cabins
designer- Guido de Groot Design/Guinton Naval Architects/MSCZ
Interior design- Guido de Groot Design

According to local residents, VIP guests arriving on Valaam ride on the yacht, and Patriarch Kirill himself loves it. Last September, for example, His Holiness made a voyage along the Volga on the Pallada.

A man who looks like the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, in swimming trunks at the helm of a yacht worth €680,000 or more.

Dmitry Shevchenko

Last summer the Supreme church council The Russian Orthodox Church adopted the so-called " Guidelines on the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in environmental protection activities”, the authors of which complain that “immoderation, greed, money-grubbing, lack of culture are direct sources of the current difficult environmental situation in the world”. Same summer Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill in all its glory lit up on its own Black Sea "cottage", the story of the construction is not even so much a guide to excesses, greed, money-grubbing and lack of culture, but it deserves a couple of dozen volumes of a criminal case. [...]

The environmental online magazine Bellona.RU, however, suggested that the church start environmental work not from a prayer service and sweeping the streets, but from the disclosure of information about the so-called "cottage of the patriarch." For greater persuasiveness, the publication sent a request to the chairman of the synodal information department of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Legoyda.

“The Patriarch’s Dacha” is a textbook example of how the state took and simply evaporated on a single piece of Russia (the entire “dacha history” has been collected, but there is a brief chronology): prosecutors have evaporated, the police have evaporated, Rosprirodnadzor has abstained from performing their duties, all the locals have disappeared authorities. Following them, hundreds of Red Book Pitsunda pines disappeared, in the place of which a nauseating-looking monolithic concrete structure grew up, a sort of variation of the Moscow tower of the era of Ivan the Terrible.

The history of this architectural splendor began in 2004 with this letter to the governor Tkachev:

The construction of the “dacha” was accompanied by outrageous lies both from the Russian Orthodox Church itself and from government agencies. It was said either about a "hotel for pilgrims", or about a "spiritual and cultural center", or in general about some purely resort facility, almost a brothel. But we must pay tribute to the late Alexy - he did not particularly shine at his scandalous "dacha".

Unlike, however, his successor. Mr. Gundyaev not only does not hesitate to have a beautiful rest in Divnomorskoye, but, as they say, locals, does not even hesitate to use the FSB coast guard for protection during swimming and boat trips.

The other day I was sent a curious photo essay about how a person who looks like Patriarch Kirill famously steers the yacht Azimut (this is the name of the Italian shipyard, which occupies one of the leading places in the world in the construction of exclusive motor yachts) in the sea between the villages of Dzhankhot and Divnomorskoye, in a place called the Blue Abyss. The photo was taken about a month ago by one of the guests. By a happy coincidence, for some reason, the border guards did not protect the patriarchal peace that day and did not disperse the excursion boats.

Another picture shows how a certain gray-haired old man-millionaire (probably, only by some misunderstanding resembling Mr. Gundyaev) is hooked to a cable, obviously intending to be dipped into the water.

If anyone is interested in buying an Azimut yacht for such boat trips, you can find out the prices on this site. The price tag for a yacht like the one with which a gray-haired old man was dipped into the water (Magellano 43 series) starts from 440 thousand euros - and this is just the price in Europe. In Russia, Magellano 43s cost from 680 thousand euros and more. Such is the "environmental policy" with "guidelines".

In general, I believe that it will take a very long time to wait for an answer from the Russian Orthodox Church regarding the Black Sea “dacha”. And criminal cases regarding blocking the coast with a blank fence, felling Pitsunda pines, regarding the failure of foresters and environmental inspectors to fulfill their direct duties, and so on and so forth, will take even longer. [...]