It has been established who defended the interests of the UOC-MP in the capital

The names of businesspeople and politicians who have long promoted the interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in Kyiv, providing it with financial and administrative support, have been revealed. This list was published by the international intelligence community InformNapalm.

In first place among the lobbyists is Oleksiy Omelyanenko, a banker and developer who headed the Party of Regions faction in the Kyiv City Council from 2008 to 2014. He gained a reputation as a major lobbyist for allocating land plots for the construction of Moscow Patriarchate temples.

Additionally, his former business partner at Ukrgasbank, former People’s Deputy Vasyl Horbal, contributed to the financing of the Russian Orthodox Church’s projects in Ukraine. However, conflicts arose between them: Omelyanenko found himself at the center of several criminal proceedings, and Horbal sued him, accusing him of embezzlement of funds.

Other notable sponsors include Mykola Lavrenko, president of the Russian-linked VS Energy company that financed the construction of the cathedral in Osokorki, and Yuriy Yerynyak, leader of the religious community of the Assumption Parish of the UOC-MP in the Darnytsia district.

Context: On August 27 of this year, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience recognized the UOC-MP as closely related to the Russian Orthodox Church. The activities of the ROC in Ukraine are currently banned.