MOSCOW, July 31 - RAPSI. The administration of the Christ the Savior Cathedral Fund have submitted an application to the prosecutor's office seeking to bring the Consumer Rights Protection Society to responsibility for releasing information which discredits the fund's business reputation, Kommersant newspaper reported on Tuesday.
On July 24, the Consumer Rights Protection Society asked the prosecutor's office and the Moscow real estate inspectorate to audit the Christ the Savior Cathedral Fund's application of city subsidies.
It also requested that the inspectorate check whether the Patriarchate of Moscow had been exempted from profit tax and if it was within the law to omit its proceeds from the sale of religious items, jewelry, souvenirs and other consumer goods in its tax statements.
On July 10, Moscow's Khamovnichesky District Court rejected the organization's motion to ban trading and the rendering of services on cathedral grounds. The claimants maintain that trade inside the cathedral grounds is against the law.
The Russian Orthodox Church said it does not own the cathedral, but only rents the property.
According to the organization, its inspection found that the cathedral runs a car wash, a tire shop, a car repair service, a parking meter zone, a canteen, a laundry, and stalls and pavilions selling jewelry, souvenirs, homeware, fabrics and other goods. In addition, some areas inside the cathedral are leased for banquets and parties.
The organization maintains that these activities should be regulated by public law and claims that the cathedral actually runs a business center on its grounds. However, no information has been provided as of yet about its owner's name or location.
According to Kommersant, the fund claim that the data on the non-targeted use of money is false and it has submitted an application in this regard to the Moscow Prosecutor's Office.