ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA Lyubov Protsenko Anton Kulbachevsky: The capital will switch to more environmentally friendly fuel together with the country The abundance of water, green areas, in which various animals and birds coexist in the metropolis, are what Muscovites are proud of in their city. Will it be possible to keep them even further? This question started yesterday "Business Breakfast" in the "RG" with the new head of the Department of Nature Management and Protection environment Moscow Anton Kulbachevsky.
RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER
Lyubov Protsenko
Anton Kulbachevsky: The capital will switch to more environmentally friendly fuel together with the country
The abundance of water, green areas, in which various animals and birds coexist in the conditions of a metropolis, are what Muscovites are proud of in their city. Will it be possible to keep them even further?
This question started yesterday "Business Breakfast" in the "RG" with the new head of the Department of Nature Management and Environmental Protection of Moscow Anton Kulbachevsky.
Russian newspaper: Anton Olegovich! You are one of the first appointees in the new government of Moscow. Have you already come to the conclusion, what problems in the city are the most acute?
Anton Kulbachevsky: I am a Muscovite, and my last place work - Head of the Department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Central federal district. I have known the problems of the capital for a long time. The main one is the condition atmospheric air, which is 90 percent polluted by vehicles. It emits about a million tons of harmful substances per year.
RG: In addition, 300 thousand cars are added annually. Is the air situation getting worse?
Kulbachevsky: Since 2005, there has been a slight, but still trend towards improvement. This is also due to the change in the fleet. Muscovites have begun to buy more environmentally friendly cars, manufacturers are catching up to European standards. In addition, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has declared war on traffic jams. The authorities expect that the speed of traffic in the city will increase and harmful emissions will decrease.
RG: The former city authorities promised that in 2011 the capital would be the first in the country to switch to Euro-4...
Kulbachevsky: The country's oil refining industry is not yet ready to completely switch to the production of Euro-4. In order to stimulate this transition, the state from the summer of 2011 introduces an additional excise tax on Euro-3 gasoline. Its producers from each ton will have to pay the state 500 rubles. As a result, the price of cheaper and lower quality gasoline will be equal to the more expensive Euro-4. This is done so that the production of more environmentally friendly fuel becomes profitable, and in 2012 Moscow, together with the whole country, will switch to Euro-4.
Read the full report from "Business Breakfast" with Anton Kulbachevsky in one of the next issues of "RG"
Zaryadye is waiting for guests // Rossiyskaya Gazeta No. 7571 (108), 05/21/2018
How did the Soaring Bridge winter in Zaryadye Park? Which subway stations will be put into operation in the near future? Which areas of the city will bring new roads out of traffic jams? Andrey Bochkarev, Head of the Moscow Construction Department, answered these and other questions at the "Business Breakfast" in Rossiyskaya Gazeta.View from the Soaring Bridge // Russian newspaper No. 7505 (42), 02/24/2018
How does it change in last years image of Moscow? Who is behind these changes? What new will the renovation program bring to the life of the city and Muscovites? This was discussed at the "Business Breakfast" in the editorial office of "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" with the chief architect of the capital, Sergei Kuznetsov.Return of debts // Russian newspaper No. 7501 (38), 20.02.2018
1 It was Vladimir Resin who, when he was still Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Construction, laid the foundation for the tradition of offsite "business breakfasts" for journalists from Rossiyskaya Gazeta. So we visited with him in the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye, a monument dismantled in the middle of the eighteenth century wooden architecture, and in 2010 recreated according to the surviving drawings.Warm stones of Moscow // Russian newspaper No. 7240 (74), 04/06/2017
The demolition of almost 8 thousand obsolete five-story buildings, the approaches to which the city authorities are now looking for, has become Lately one of the hottest topics in town. And this is understandable - 1.6 million Muscovites live in such houses. What awaits them after moving to new apartments? How will the replacement of some houses by others affect the overall appearance of Moscow? Most of the letters that came to RG for the announcement of the "Business Breakfast" with the chief architect of the city, Sergey Kuznetsov, are devoted to these issues. With them, the conversation in the editorial office with our guest began.We build for centuries // Russian newspaper No. 6890 (22), 02/03/2016
The construction of the parliamentary center of Russia will not begin later than the first quarter of 2017. This was told to Rossiyskaya Gazeta by a State Duma deputy, chairman of the commission for the construction of buildings and structures intended for supreme body legislative power of the country, Vladimir Resin.Comfort on the conveyor // Russian newspaper No. 6784 (213), 09/23/2015
Moscow, like Europe, has long been building mainly on individual projects. And suddenly, recently, she began to actively develop standard projects for reuse. What is behind this? About this - the conversation of the correspondent of "RG" with the first deputy head of the department of urban policy of the capital Oleg Ryndin.Work under the My Street program at most facilities will be completed in October // Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 09/04/2015
Good news for Muscovites on the eve of City Day: in October, work on the My Street program will be completed. This was announced today to journalists by the deputy mayor of the capital for housing and communal services and improvement Peter Biryukov. This means that the streets dug all over the city, as it was this year throughout the summer, will remain in the past. Instead, Muscovites will receive comfortable pedestrian spaces, repaired and well-lit roads, along which there will be more greenery and lawns.Trenches along the roads // Russian newspaper No. 6726 (155), 07/15/2015
Wherever you look - pits, ditches, trenches... Half of Moscow has been dug up! The invasion of workers in orange robes and equipment: tractors, bulldozers, dump trucks that take out the soil. Well right battle of Borodino! What is happening, many citizens are at a loss. So the correspondent of "RG" did not immediately guess that she had taken such a grandiose scale city program"My street", which last autumn was discussed in the capital at an electronic referendum.Sobyanin: In Moscow, there are a third fewer monuments in disrepair // Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 03.03.2015
The results of the work on the restoration of objects cultural heritage in Moscow in 2014, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin summed up on March 3 at a meeting of the Presidium of the Government of Moscow.Stone, scissors, paper // Rossiyskaya gazeta Federal issue No. 6577 (6), 01/15/2015
large-scale architectural competitions over the past four years, they have been accompanying the construction of any building of any significance for Moscow. But when will the world see their results? What will the implemented projects of the competition winners give the city? What colors will be added to the Russian capital?The capital has its own character // Russian newspaper "Nedvizhimost" No. 6514 (242), 10/23/2014
The fate of the wasteland at the junction of Leningradsky Prospekt and the Third Ring Road has finally become known. A hotel and office center in the form of a high-rise tower will be built there. What explains such a decision of the Archcouncil? What place is given to skyscrapers in Moscow today? This was told by the chief architect of the capital, the head of the architectural council of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov.The capital of builders // Rossiyskaya Gazeta Stolichny issue No. 6450 (178), 08/08/2014
Moscow is the capital of builders. In which Russian city do 800,000 representatives of this profession still work and build 3,700 objects at the same time? Which of them will the city's construction complex please Muscovites this year? This was told by Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for urban planning policy and construction.And without populism // Rossiyskaya Gazeta Stolichny issue No. 6412 (140), 06/26/2014
Muscovites in Once again discussing the fate of the Shukhov Tower. This time - at the initiative of the city authorities, who invited the townspeople to express their opinion on how they see the future of the monument on mobile application"Active Citizen". It is not surprising that the “Business Breakfast” with the head of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage, Alexander Kibovsky, began yesterday with this topic.In 2014, Moscow will restore more than 200 monuments // Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 05/28/2014
In 2014, Moscow will restore 203 monuments of history and culture, investing 166 million euros from the capital's budget in these works. Such figures were named by RG, the head of the Department of Cultural Heritage of Moscow, Alexander Kibovsky.Road one floor above // Rossiyskaya Gazeta Stolichny issue No. 6334 (62), 03/19/2014
Muscovites have been hearing about the need for transport hubs to appear in the capital for a long time. And finally, at the just ended in Cannes International exhibition real estate MIPIM-2014 Moscow presented the first projects, which can be used to judge how it might look like in our country. And in the very near future.Paradoxes of Khusnullin // Rossiyskaya Gazeta Stolichny issue No. 6337 (65), 03/21/2014
Interesting discovery made by the journalists of "RG" for themselves at a "business breakfast" in the "RG" with the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for urban policy and construction Marat Khusnullin. It turns out that it only seems that the construction of the subway costs the city the most, in fact, the subway is the cheapest way to get rid of traffic jams. However, everything is in order ...The Moscow authorities intend to compact the building in the city // Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 03/13/2014
Until the end of the year in Moscow, the norms for building density may change. This was announced at the MIPIM exhibition by the chief architect of the capital Sergey Kuznetsov.The competition is not for the sake of the competition // Rossiyskaya Gazeta Nedelya No. 6319 (47), 02/27/2014
Moscow, for a long time closed to the best architects of the world, now, one might say, has opened its doors to them. The American Robert Stern, the Japanese Junya Ishigami, Irish, French, Italian architects work in the city ... There are so many of them now that I want to ask: where are our Moscow architects? It is no coincidence that this issue was at the center of the discussion at the "Business Breakfast" with the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov.Paid parking will expand in Moscow to the Third Ring Road // Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 01/28/2014
The paid parking zone in the capital will expand to the borders of the Third Ring Road. This was announced today at a meeting of the Moscow government Deputy Mayor for Transport Maxim Liksutov. However, he immediately reassured that this would not happen in a residential area, but only around shopping centers and office buildings.Give green // Rossiyskaya gazeta Federal issue No. 6281 (9), 01/17/2014
For the past three years, roads in Moscow have been built in winter and summer, in snowfall and in heat. Builders don't have weekends or holidays. The city authorities understand that construction will stop, and the entire capital will stop. What will change on the roads of the city this year? Will Muscovites go faster? This was discussed at the "Business Breakfast" in "RG" with the head of the Moscow construction department Andrei Bochkarev.Between Tsereteli and Foster // Rossiyskaya gazeta Federal issue No. 6163 (187), 08/23/2013
A year has passed since the 35-year-old Sergey Kuznetsov became the chief architect of Moscow. What new brought with it for development Russian capital his young team? What projects are maturing and being implemented in the city? This was discussed at the "Business Breakfast" in "RG" with Sergei Kuznetsov.Foster is expected on Volkhonka // Rossiyskaya Gazeta Stolichny issue No. 6158 (182), 08/19/2013
A number of media reported that the British architect, the author of the concept of the reconstruction of the Museum fine arts Norman Foster finally left this project. What's more, Foster +Parthers even made it a condition that their name should no longer be used in connection with it. Is this so, the correspondent of "RG" found out.With METER steps // Rossiyskaya gazeta Federal issue No. 6125 (149), 07/11/2013
Moscow has never seen such a scale of road construction. Metrotunnels are being dug in all parts of the city and transport hubs are being built. They are raising overpasses, building new roads and reconstructing old ones ... What will this give Moscow in the end? Is it possible to get her out of traffic jams waiting for Muscovites almost anywhere and at any hour? This was discussed at a "business breakfast" in "RG" with and. O. Andrey Bochkarev, Head of the Moscow Construction Department.Take it with you for a walk // Rossiyskaya gazeta Federal issue No. 6066 (90), 04/25/2013
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin presented a map of the walking routes that will appear in the capital this year to RG when he came to us on Pravda Street to discuss the most important problems of concern to Muscovites during the Business Breakfast. And as if he foresaw the first question: how to make Moscow a city not only for cars, but also for people?The road will not catch up with the car // Rossiyskaya gazeta Federal issue No. 6024 (48), 03/06/2013
The construction of the metro in the capital is gaining momentum before our eyes. In 2011, 4.5 km of new lines were put into operation, in 2012 - 8.5, 14 are planned for this, and 60 by 2016! And yet, is it realistic - in just nine years - by 2020 to add another 150 to the existing 300 km of subway lines, as the Moscow government promises? With this question, a "business breakfast" began in "RG" with the deputy mayor of Moscow for urban policy and construction, Marat Khusnullin.Problems with a pool // Russian newspaper Nedelya No. 6014 (38), 02/21/2013
They decided to cure Moscow of the disease of the "Street of the Builders", in which all the houses look alike like two drops of water, no matter if they are located in different districts or even different cities. This task new architect Sergei Kuznetsov considers the capital one of the most important. And he relates this not only to housing, but also to the entire social sector, traditionally built on the residual principle. A little girl of about six, holding her mother's hand, left the Arbatskaya metro station and froze in admiration: "How beautiful!" It was even more interesting to watch the reaction of adults. Taking a step outside from the subway lobby, many of them began to look around in bewilderment. On the faces it was read: "Where am I?"And no wonder: in front of the passengers of the metro, accustomed to the crowd here, now a magnificent square opens up, the main decoration of which is space and a lot of air. And also a fresh emerald lawn, which, as they say, cannot be trampled on, and most importantly, there is no need - a granite passage has been made through it, through which it is convenient to get to the neighboring Vozdvizhenka, and to the underground passage leading to Gogol Boulevard. Nearby are benches already inhabited by lovers, granite tiles underfoot, which on a hot day you begin to especially appreciate: after all, if there were the same asphalt here, it would melt in the sun, and there would be nothing to breathe. It was in such a wonderful place that Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin arranged a meeting for RG correspondents in response to an offer to walk together along the square, where work on the My Street program had just ended. I really wanted to know what the mayor himself thinks about the improvement of Moscow, what other plans he has.
We met at the Khudozhestvenny cinema.
Sergey Semenovich, we suggest you go today by the eleventh route.
Sergei Sobyanin: And what is it?
Well, like what? On my own two. Do you like walking?
Sergei Sobyanin: Agree. This is one of my main pleasures.
Here the conversation had to be interrupted: Sobyanin was recognized. Children, women, men, Muscovites and guests of the capital. In the polyphony of the surrounding people, the refrain sounded:
Thank you for beautiful Moscow!
He walked along the square and everyone who wanted to shook the mayor's hand, wished: "Keep going in the same spirit!" So we got to the tables under white awnings - another innovation of Arbat Square, sat down to drink tea and finally talk.
Sergei Semenovich, few even Muscovites knew that there was such an Arbatskaya square. New Arbat, Old Arbat - yes, the sights of Moscow. And the square - who saw it and where?
Sergei Sobyanin: Indeed, for the last two decades, it can be said that it did not exist. There was only a huge flow of people, sandwiched in a narrow corridor between the fence of the metro station and the shops. Where did they come from? First, one stall once appeared, then the second, then a second floor was built above them ... Samostroy next to the Ministry of Defense. And so it was for years. Not just ugly, but really dangerous for metro passengers and passers-by. Only in February we managed to demolish these buildings. Now there are benches in place of the stalls, people rest there.
It was Vladimir Resin who, when he was still deputy mayor of Moscow for construction, laid the tradition of offsite "business breakfasts" for journalists from Rossiyskaya Gazeta. So we visited with him the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye, a monument of wooden architecture dismantled in the middle of the eighteenth century, and in 2010 recreated according to the surviving drawings.
Then they discussed the problems of preserving the historical heritage in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, built today to replace the blown up one. In the Novodevichy Convent, fortunately, one could see how the restoration of this monument of history and culture, protected by UNESCO, is going on. And so - new meeting. This time - in the Moscow Diocesan House, where State Duma deputy Vladimir Resin met us with Father Vladimir (Vorobiev), the rector of St. Tikhon Orthodox Church located here humanitarian university, to whom, as the owner, our first question was addressed.
Pure sound from time immemorial
Father Vladimir! Why is this building in Likhovy Lane valuable not only for the capital, but also for the country?
Father Vladimir: The diocesan house was built in 1902 by Metropolitan Vladimir Bogoyavlensky as a center of public education. Almost immediately, it turned into one of the most beloved centers of church and cultural life Moscow. What didn't happen here! Every Sunday in the church of St. Vladimir, located right there, there was a service, during which a huge working choir sang - up to 100 people. The society for the fight against drunkenness, the society for public literacy, the missionary society were working ... In a word, the house lived a full-blooded life.
But the house went down in history more than others. Here, in the Cathedral Chamber, adjacent to the Prince Vladimir Church, in 1917 the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which restored the Patriarchate, met. This decision was made on November 18, 1917 by 600 delegates chosen from all over Russia. By this time, everywhere was already flaring up revolutionary events, there were street battles, the siege of the Kremlin began, the tsarist government was overthrown ... The understanding that it was getting worse and worse put an end to discussions about whether Russia needed the Patriarch again, who by that time had not been there for 200 years. So in the end, Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and All Rus' was elected.
After the revolution, the Diocesan house was taken away, museum collections and church valuables were plundered, the golden dome and the bell tower were demolished ... Photo: From the book "Revival of the Shrine. Moscow Diocesan House"
And soon most of the participants in the cathedral were repressed. Many were shot or tortured, many died in dungeons. 50 of them were later canonized as saints. The diocesan house was taken away, museum collections and church valuables were plundered, the golden dome and the bell tower were demolished... To return the church house, we went through three dozen courts.
And you, Vladimir Iosifovich, when did you first visit the Diocesan House? How did they see him?
Vladimir Resin: It was already 2013. The building was in complete disarray. During the earthquake in Armenia, I headed the working group in Leninakan. I will say: even there some houses were in best condition than this one. But Father Vladimir was here with his great desire to restore unique monument history and culture. The time that has passed since 2004, when the Moscow Diocesan House was transferred to the Church, he did not sit idly by, he already had serious studies to restore the building.
I came to Likhov Lane on behalf of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to see and evaluate how this can be done in as soon as possible. Together with Father Vladimir, we came to a common opinion: the Cathedral Chamber, a monument of history and culture, needs to be restored, and when restoring the entire building, create conditions in which the university can work in accordance with the requirements of the time. Which was done in just two years. The Prince Vladimir Church at the Diocesan House again became the same as it was. The icons for him were painted by the teachers themselves and students of the university, which has its own faculty of church arts. The Cathedral Chamber, separated from the temple by a dense curtain, as before, for the duration of various lectures and conferences, once again delights people with its unique acoustics. It is no coincidence that in Soviet times when the Central Studio was still in the Diocesan House documentaries, it was in this hall that the recording of the best music records took place. Connoisseurs classical music and now they come here with pleasure to concerts.
The facades were restored to their historical appearance. The area of the house due to the adaptation of the basement and the construction of the attic floor has almost doubled - up to 9.5 thousand square meters. Thanks to this, university students received modern, well-equipped classrooms. The builders were able to fit into Historical building even an elevator.
Paying off the debt of the fathers
Vladimir Iosifovich! Just the other day, another church was returned to the Church - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on Dolgorukovskaya Street. It was occupied by the Soyuzmultfilm studio, which moved. Will this church be restored too?
Vladimir Resin: I don't know the details yet, but most likely yes. A lot of work is being done in Moscow to put churches in order. In 2017 alone, 11 unique religious objects were restored. Work is underway on another 56. The St. John the Baptist stauropegial convent, the Holy Gates and the gallery of the Northern Palace in the center of Moscow, the Church of the Assumption are being restored Holy Mother of God in TiNAO, temple life-giving trinity in Rizhsky Lane in the north of the capital - another wonderful creation of the early twentieth century ... Destroyed their entire state, but by the hands of our fathers and grandfathers. We can only repent for them now. And the Church and the people are restoring these shrines. Restoration work of historical monuments is funded by the state.
In 2015, you and I were in the Novodevichy Convent, were restoration work just beginning there? Do they continue?
Vladimir Resin: Continue. They should end in 2024, when the monastery will be 500 years old. A big date not only for Russian, but also for world history. Taking into account the preparations for it, a decree of the Russian government was issued. It approved the whole range of works that must be carried out "to preserve the historical appearance of a particularly valuable object of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation "The Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent".
In the Church of the Transfiguration, the last one in Moscow that was blown up in Khrushchev's times - in 1964, which you also restored, probably services are already going on?
Vladimir Resin: Yes, its reconstruction was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War. The temple was restored in its former appearance, fortunately, measured drawings of 1883 and photographs of the 20th century have been preserved. On the eve of the holiday, on May 8, 2015, the temple was consecrated. Since then, it has been open to parishioners, services are going on, and Sunday School for children. I even baptized my great-granddaughter Sophia there. The multimedia museum of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and the Russian army operating at the temple is also interesting.
And at whose expense temples are being restored and built, readers ask. With budget money from Moscow?
The Cathedral Chamber again delights people with its unique acoustics. Photo: From the book "The Revival of the Shrine. The Moscow Diocesan House"
Vladimir Resin: Where historical monuments are identified objects of historical and cultural heritage, state funding is allocated for the restoration of an architectural monument. But if we talk about new construction, then temples are built with people's money. There are many who want to help, and the poor give to the temple, and wealthy citizens. The difficulty is how to raise this money. But even it can be overcome when a community, a parish, gathers around an existing or just being laid down church. This is where it starts real life any temple - and the smallest, on the outskirts of the city, and such as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
You participated in its revival in the most direct way. A lot of money was donated to ensure that on the site of the blown up temple, and then the Moscow pool, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior would rise again?
Vladimir Resin: The chief foreman at that gigantic construction site was Patriarch Alexy. Now Patriarch Kirill and Mayor Sergei Sobyanin are at the head of the work on the revival of churches in Moscow. Money is from the people. Donators raised more than a billion dollars for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The people also donate to all other churches. The people have money - construction is underway, if there is no money - construction is suspended. Fortunately, not for long - people donate about 3 billion rubles a year for the construction of new churches.
People often do not just give some amount, but express their wishes on what exactly they would like to spend it on. For example, a parishioner recently came to one of the churches under construction and said: let's cover it with a copper roof. "It's very expensive," the abbot explains. "Nothing, I'll pay." And there are hundreds of such cases in Moscow.
How much does it cost to build a temple?
Vladimir Resin: We are now building not even temples, but entire temple complexes. With Sunday schools, various administrative offices for the work of the parish, church shops, bakeries and even cafes. Depending on the technical conditions -140-150 million rubles.
Walking to God
Of course, Moscow is a big and rich city. There are already a lot of temples here, and if you need to get there, no problem, the metro will take you there. In Troparevo, for example, there are five churches located not far from each other and one chapel. And you will leave Moscow for 100-200 kilometers and see how desolated the temples are in the same Lipetsk region, for example, or Orlovskaya. But they are even more needed there than in the capital! In the provinces, temples are needed not only to sing the dead or go to consecrate Easter cakes. It is often the only center of culture there. Why shouldn't Moscow arrange a missionary action to revive rural churches?
Vladimir Resin: A wave of construction of new temples is going on not only in Moscow, but also in other regions. I judge this by St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Tomsk, the Moscow region, and others Russian regions and edges. But the fact that it is already good with churches in Moscow is a big delusion. I understood this when a program for the creation of 200 temples began to be developed in the capital. The discovery was that we, it turns out, have areas in which, for 300,000 people, there is not only a single church, but there is also no chapel! Yes, the numbers speak for themselves. If in the country there was one church for 11 thousand parishioners, then in Moscow there was only one for 40 thousand, while before the revolution there was a church for every 1.5 thousand citizens.
Father Vladimir: I confirm: throughout Moscow there are approximately 500 parishes-communities, 33 monasteries, 26 bishops, and about 1,700 clergy. This is with a population of 12.5 million people. And, for example, in Greece, with its 10.5 million population, there are about 8 thousand parishes, about 600 monasteries, 109 bishops and more than 9 thousand clergy. As you can see, the proportion is far from in favor of Moscow.
But now, the situation is changing.
Vladimir Resin: Of course, we have not reached pre-revolutionary indicators, but there is hope that we will reach one church for 25-30 thousand people in terms of security. In the eight years that have passed since 2010, when the 200 Program was adopted, 62 temple complexes have been built in the city - 45 under the program and 17 - in addition to it, 35 more are being built. Why do I say "complexes"? Yes, because now in Moscow not small churches are being built, as someone might think, but churches for at least 500 parishioners. A smaller size is possible only where conditions do not allow building, but even then only with the permission of Patriarch Kirill. Each church has a parish house, a Sunday school, and all the necessary engineering. There is still a lot of work ahead - 231 plots are reserved for the program.
Moscow has launched a program to renovate dilapidated housing stock. In the course of it, the areas of the former five-story buildings will be rebuilt. Temples will be built there too?
Vladimir Resin: Undoubtedly. I always say: what is the difference between a smart man and a fool? He learns from the mistakes of others, and a fool learns from his own. Now Moscow is being built up not in the form of residential areas and industrial zones, but comprehensively, in accordance with the master plan. There will be temples in the renovated areas, of course. They should be there, as a rule, within walking distance. So that people can walk from home in five to ten minutes.
Are they also being built in New Moscow?
Vladimir Resin: In the annexed territories, 6 temples have already been built, 18 sites allocated for this are waiting for their hour to come.
Are all new temples in the capital typical?
Vladimir Resin: There was an idea to apply standard construction to speed up the construction. But then they abandoned it. Each is built mainly according to an individual project, of which not a single temple has yet been repeated.
Temples erase sectarian strife
And what can be said in our time about the attitude of the intelligentsia towards the church? Not only writers, filmmakers, but also architects, builders, artists who are involved in the revival of temples? Is there a stratum of Orthodox intelligentsia appearing in our country?
Father Vladimir: Undoubtedly. There are a lot of intellectuals in our churches now. There are many young people in the parish, graduates of Moscow State University and other metropolitan universities study at our university. This is facilitated by the fact that a vertical has finally been built in theology, both an educational discipline and a scientific one. Now you can get a state diploma in theology, defend a candidate's and doctoral dissertation in theology. We have been fighting for this for 25 years. And now about 50 departments with the teaching of theology have already been opened in public universities. Wherever they open, normal relations with the Church are established. Such a university quickly "turns to face" the Church. Many of its teachers and administrators are gaining faith, some are being baptized, building churches and chapels at their university. Students also begin to relate to religion in a different way. In a word, goes live missionary work. But it is the university that supplies personnel for any province. Trains officials, managers, school teachers... This is the right process that allows our people to return to their historical spiritual and moral roots. It is supported at all levels of government.
The intelligentsia, which is in opposition to the church, is a very small stratum. And I will not hesitate to say directly that it was initiated by the West. Just like it was in late XIX and the beginning of the 20th century, when the revolution was imported to us from abroad.
Vladimir Resin: I will add: it is no coincidence that the first temples from the Program-200 were built for MGIMO, the Academy of the FSB, the temple at Plekhanov University was restored. And at Moscow State University, although there was already a temple, another one is now being built. And it is impossible not to notice that many representatives of our generation - former pioneers, Komsomol members, members of the Communist Party, have now turned from atheists into believers.
Vladimir Iosifovich! But Moscow is still a multi-confessional city. Will not only Orthodox churches be built in it, but also new mosques and synagogues?
Vladimir Resin: I repeat once again: it is not the state that builds any places of worship in our country. They are created by the confessions themselves. In the same way, they collect money, the city holds public hearings, and if the residents do not mind, a temple, a mosque, a synagogue are being built ... In Mitino, for example, the residents opposed the construction of a mosque. We are not at war with our people. So it will be built elsewhere. There is nothing terrible or offensive in this. Do you know who is our first Orthodox church built out of two hundred? Muslim builder Gadzhi Gadzhimusaev. The beautiful temple of Dmitry Donskoy, in the north of the capital, on Polyarnaya Street. Built with my own money from start to finish.
Father Vladimir: The construction of temples and the teaching of theology erases sectarian strife and promotes peace. So it was before the revolution, so it is now.
On the morning of November 1, an article entitled “Clarification” appeared on the Rossiyskaya Gazeta website. It says that earlier the journalist of the publication Lyubov Protsenko made a mistake in her article “Stronger Together” dated September 29, in which she talked about cooperation between the authorities of Moscow and Ljubljana. Together with a delegation from the Moscow mayor's office, the journalist visited the Slovenian capital and took part in the "Days of Moscow in Ljubljana" campaign. Protsenko wrote that Russian officials found mutual language with their Slovenian colleagues and actively exchanged compliments. Thus, the mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, “noted with satisfaction that if earlier Moscow was more involved in construction, now great attention devotes to parks and squares. The head of the Moscow Department of Housing and Utilities and Improvement, Alexander Samsonov, became interested in the Slovenian experience of waste processing, other members of the delegation liked walking around the center of Ljubljana, where car traffic is limited. Both sides in their speeches metaphorically said that Moscow and Ljubljana can now be considered one city with a population of 12 million 300 thousand people (the official population of Moscow is 12 million people, and Ljubljana is only 300 thousand inhabitants).
Among other things, Protsenko quoted Yankovic, in which he recalled how two years ago Slovenia was one of the first in Europe to recognize the results of the referendum in Crimea. This did not please the official Ljubljana, which called these words untrue and demanded their refutation. “Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Jankovic did not talk to Rossiyskaya Gazeta journalists about Crimea and the referendum that took place there, nor did he mention it during the Days of Moscow in Ljubljana,” reads the letter sent to the editorial office by the Slovenian Embassy in Russia.
The embassy also recalled that Slovenia “supports the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and, in accordance with this, does not recognize either the results of the referendum in Crimea, or the illegal annexation of Crimea to Russian Federation which is a violation of international law." At the end of the article, the editors of the newspaper apologized to Yankovic and readers. Now in the material called "Together Stronger" there is no mention of the controversial quote from the mayor of Ljubljana. Profile was unable to get a prompt comment from the Slovenian embassy in Moscow.
"Clarification" of "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" began to be actively discussed on the Internet. Journalist Aleksey Kovalev wrote on his Facebook that “in order to avoid a major diplomatic scandal, the official press organ of the government of the Russian Federation had to say in plain text that Crimea is not ours.”
The articles of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, one way or another concerning other countries, have already aroused the discontent of foreign governments. In 2013, Warsaw did not like the publication's article dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the uprising in the German concentration camp Sobibor. “For unknown reasons, the article omits the mention of the fact that Poland as a state was absent from the political map of Europe at that time. Therefore, expressions like those used - “this happened at the Sobibor death factory in Poland” - are incorrect, since readers may get the impression that Poland collaborated with the Nazis, ”wrote the Polish Embassy in Russia. However, at that time the newspaper did not refute its words and left the article in its original form.
The current case is noteworthy for another reason: to date, only Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela have recognized the belonging of Crimea to Russia. None of these countries are European. Thus, the phrase attributed to Zoran Jankovic that Slovenia recognized the results of the referendum in Crimea as one of the first in Europe sounds at least strange.
The Days of Moscow in Ljubljana were held from 28 to 30 September. Since 2000, the cities have been sister cities. Exhibitions, film screenings, conferences, round tables and other events telling about the life of the Russian capital. The zoos of the two cities have agreed on cooperation. It was reported that Muscovites donated a collection of books to the residents of Ljubljana, and world chess champion Anatoly Karpov and Moscow figure skaters held master classes for Slovenians.
