© Yulia Lazarova
Dnevnik Express
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The Registry Agency has a notarial deed for the ownership of the Russian Church in Sofia, the agency reported to BTA.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice informed that the notarial deed did not describe the submission of documents and evidence regarding the construction and legal succession between the Russian Imperial Diplomatic Agency and the Russian Embassy.
The Ministry of Justice confirms that after an inspection at the Sofia Registry Office, it was found that the notarial deed was registered on July 23, 1997 and it was for ownership of real estate acquired by donation of the land, construction of the church and legal succession from the Russian Imperial Diplomatic Agency of the Russian Embassy.
The building of the Russian Church is the property of Russia, according to the abbot of the Chernogorsk Monastery
It is clear from the content of the notarial deed, writes the justice department, that it was drawn up at the request of the Russian ambassador on the basis of a serf deed dated November 7, 1898.
However, the building deed (deeds issued between 1887 and 1910) is not publicly available, nor was it stored in the archives of the Registration Agency, because according to the legislation, after a period of 100 years, civil and property status registers are subject to of transmission and state storage in the “Territorial Archive” department – Sofia, the Ministry of Justice specifies.
Patriarch Neofit appointed priests in the Russian Church
“Establishing the ownership of the Russian church requires a thorough investigation, analysis of regulations and documents located outside the Registration Agency (in the State Archives, the Metropolitan Municipality, etc.)”, the Ministry of Justice states and add that in this sense the question of its ownership is not within their competence.
The temple was left without priests and was locked after, at the request of the State Agency for National Security (DANS), the head of the church Archimandrite Vasian (Zmeev) and two other Belarusian priests were expelled from Bulgaria “for actions that do not correspond to their status in Bulgaria”. Yesterday, Patriarch Neofit, who is also the Metropolitan of Sofia, appointed priests from Sofia who will take care of the “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” temple.
Earlier today, the abbot of the Chernogorsk Monastery Nikanor told “Nova TV” that the property of the building belongs to the Russian Federation and the Russian Embassy.
