Russia may return $50 bn in church assets

The Russian authorities will decide by the end of April whether to return to a number of property assets valued at up to $ 50 bn (EUR 37.2 bn) to the Russian Orthodox Church, Italian news agency Ansa reported. The move comes in the wake of a project commissioned by Dmitri Medvedev, deputy prime ministry and a leading candidate for the Russian presidency, which involves the return of religious sites to religious authorities. The Orthodox Church would be the main beneficiary from the decision, which is due to be taken by the end of this month.

Involving some 443 monasteries and 13,000 churches and cathedrals, this would be one of the largest privatisation processes in Russian history. In Moscow alone, the Orthodox Russian Church would regain possession of 600 sites, each with a surface area of between 300 m² and 10 hectares, as well as buildings ranging from 5,000 m² to 50,000 m² for a total valued at $50 bn.

Last February, PropertyEU reported that the Orthodox Church has set up an investment centre to develop commercial real estate on church-owned lands.