The archpriest became disillusioned with his earthly patron. The archpriest was disappointed in his earthly patron. The Masonic lodge gathers “intelligence veterans”

In the case of the former deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) accused of corruption Oleg Korshunov contains testimony from the former head of one of the departments of the Moldavian Metropolis, the official representative of the Moldavian Metropolitan to the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Gennady Turcanu. According to the priest, for a long time Korshunov helped him obtain loans for commercial and charitable projects from the Zhilkredit bank, the owner of which is now hiding from investigation on charges of mediation in extorting a bribe. In the agency's archive " Ruspres“Mr. Turcanu is mentioned as a person close to the Moscow “fixer” Elan Antonov (real name - Alik Flocha), under the guise of an “FSB general” who extorted money from financier Evgeny Dvoskin. Turcanu and ex-ambassador of Moldova to the Russian Federation Andrey Negutsa, moving in bohemian circles, they looked for new victims for the swindler.

Loans for Gennady's father

Investigator Andrei Veniaminov interrogated Gennady Tsurkana on June 27 of this year. According to the priest, he met Korshunov in 2009 at the Chaikhona restaurant on Leninsky Prospekt. They were introduced to each other by mutual friends - businessmen involved in fuel supply .

“I was engaged in various commercial activities, led various projects, including those related to charity. I periodically needed to borrow money, in this regard, I turned to Korshunov with a request for financial assistance,” Turcanu said during interrogation. At the same time, Korshunov personally never helped him and recommended that he contact the bank.

“About six months after we met, he took me to the Zhilkredit bank, where he introduced me to the chairman of the bank’s board [Anna] Ribitskaya, who was his long-time acquaintance and business partner. After meeting Ribitskaya, I periodically contacted the specified bank with a request for cash loans. When granting me another loan, Ribitskaya received Korshunov’s approval. He actually acted as my guarantor to the bank,” the priest’s testimony says.

The loan amounts ranged from 1 million to 20 million rubles. Turcanu, according to him, always repaid loans with interest, but at the time of interrogation he had a debt to Zhilkredit of 15 million rubles. “I took out bank loans on the basis receipts. There was no agreement; Korshunov’s verbal confirmation was enough,” the priest said. Having started working in FSIN, Korshunov continued to coordinate with Tsurkan the issuance of loans from Zhilkredit, while “strongly recommending” that they be returned: “He jokingly said that if I was imprisoned for fraud, he would give me a cell with a window.”

Tsurkanu, according to him, did not conduct any business with the FSIN, but at the request of Korshunov, he “carried out the christening of his relatives, acquaintances, as well as the child of the first deputy director of the FSIN of Russia Anatoly Rudoy", the testimony says.

Who is Gennady Turcanu

Archpriest Gennady Turcanu was the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moldavian Metropolis. According to Moldovan media, in 2012 he was removed from this position, but in September 2013 he was again mentioned as chairman of the DECR.

Tsurkanu was the founder of the Charitable Foundation named after St. Paisius Velichkovsky, as follows from SPARK data. The main activity of the fund is “providing other financial services, except for insurance and pension services, not included in other groups.” In August 2017 Peresvet bank associated with the Russian Orthodox Church filed a claim with the Moscow Arbitration Court for the bankruptcy of the Paisiy Velichkovsky Foundation, which owed 300 thousand rubles. At the end of September this year, the claim was satisfied. In addition, Gennady Turcanu’s foundation owes 2 million rubles to the Moscow Administration of the Federal Property Management Agency.

In September 2016, the NTV channel reported that the capital police were looking for Tsurkana in connection with a statement from a Muscovite who rented out a five-room apartment to him. She claimed that Tsurkanu disappeared without paying her for three months of rent (a month cost 250 thousand rubles), while stealing a designer sofa and threatening her. “The police checked and found out that I did not steal any sofa. She just wanted to spoil things for me. The case was not initiated,” Tsurkanu explained to RBC.

According to NTV, Turcanu was excommunicated from the church after he was seen relaxing in a nightclub. In a conversation with a journalist, he stated that he had never been excommunicated from the church or banned from ministry. “I was voluntarily removed from the post of DECR chairman. I wrote a report because my work requires me to be in Moldova, and I lived in Moscow,” said the priest.

“I was considered as his man”

“In addition, [Korshunov] asked me for letters from the metropolitan, I did not refuse,” Turcanu added. What kind of certificates are meant is not explained in the protocol. In a conversation with media representatives, Tsurcanu clarified that, on his own initiative, he wrote a petition to Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and All Moldova to reward Korshunov for helping the metochion of the Moldavian Church in Moscow: “Once I gave 20 thousand rubles, once I bought a set of church utensils for temple. I wrote a report and asked the Bishop to give him a medal in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Moldavian Metropolis.”

From December 2016 to May 2017, Korshunov called Tsurkan on the phone 13 times, as follows from the FSB memorandum certificates that the investigator presented to the priest during interrogation. During these conversations, Korshunov demanded to repay the debt to Zhilkredit, Turcanu claimed. “The tone of his statements was outrageous. After his appointment to the position of deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Korshunov began to distance himself from ordinary citizens and looked down on his acquaintances. He arrived late to meetings and made people wait. As a rule, he arrived on a motorcycle " Harley Davidson“- the priest said during interrogation.

The owner of Zhilkredit, Ribitskaya, never demanded the debt from Turcanu directly - only through Korshunov, since the priest “was considered his man,” he clarified. “It seemed to me that she was experiencing psychological problems. She said that she sees visions in her dreams, during which she meets with the Mother of God and angels, who advise her to sell some kind of tanker, which will supposedly bring her a lot of money. I didn’t understand what she was talking about, and in turn recommended that she see a psychologist,” - this is how Turcanu described his last meeting with Ribitskaya in 2016.

In a conversation with journalists, Tsurcanu described Korshunov as a “devout person.” According to him, their acquaintance was due to the fact that Korshunov needed to organize the baptism of his granddaughter in Cathedral of Christ the Savior; subsequently Tsurkanu helped him with pilgrimages to relics saints who were brought to Moscow: “He always went to the priests to consult, apparently he had some problems,” the priest concluded, adding that he regretted what happened to Korshunov. - I can’t say anything bad about him. Neither I owe him anything, nor he owes me anything.”

What is Korshunov accused of?

Oleg Korshunov was detained in September 2017. The deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service is charged with embezzlement, fraud and several counts of accepting bribes. Now the Gagarinsky court is considering one of the cases against him - about fraud in the purchase of shoes for prisoners.

Korshunov does not admit guilt and calls the accusation absurd. According to him, he had nothing to do with the contract service of the Federal Penitentiary Service and could not interfere in the course of open tenders. His lawyer Alexander Linnikov considers the client “a victim of slander and arbitrariness of the special services,” and the criminal cases against him are “falsifications based on false testimony, speculation and fraud.”

One of the cases brought against Korshunov is related to waste on government purchases of sugar and extorting bribes in the amount of 40 million rubles from businesswoman Marina Dyukova. Also involved in this case is the owner of the Zhilkredit bank, Anna Ribitskaya, who left Russia and, according to investigators, mediated the extortion of a bribe.

According to the agency " Ruspres", citizen Ribitskaya also appears in another case of fraud - she borrowed money from a Zhilkredit investor, which she did not intend to return.

“It was decided to temporarily stop public activities Protodeacon Kuraev on the territory of the metropolis. Not because canonical violations were found in his actions, but to reassure the public. In addition, parliamentary elections took place in Moldova the other day, and the speeches of a guest from Moscow on the eve of the elections could be regarded as an attempt to put pressure on our voters. Resolving the issue with Chibrik is not within Kuraev’s competence. This issue is within the competence of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'. The Apostle Paul says: when your brother sins, explain to him the gravity of his crime and try, loving him, to correct him. If he does not listen to you, then take with you another witness who would confirm that you are right, and if he does not correct himself this time, then hand him over to the church court, and if he does not listen to the court and does not correct himself, then let him be like a heretic to you. With regard to Father Anatoly, the situation is very similar - the metropolis, as his canonical hierarchy, could not cope with him, then we handed him over to the Patriarchate, if he does not correct himself after that, then he will sign his own verdict and it will be clear who his “god” is “And what is its “truth”,” said Archpriest Gennady Tsurcanu, the official representative of the Moldavian Metropolitan to the Moscow Patriarchate, in an interview with the newspaper “NG-Religion”.

According to the priest, Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev “has quite a scandalous reputation as a result of his activities in Russia and Ukraine. He can preach a sermon for two hours and never mention the name of Christ, but he gets carried away with accusations against his opponents. Just don't confuse preaching with chatter, there's a huge difference. I don’t think he received the Patriarch’s blessing for this; I’m sure that Kuraev’s speech in Chisinau was his personal desire to feel at least for two days “expelled for the truth” and called up as a “martyr.”

Speaking about the activities of Archpriest Anatoly Chibrik, Father Gennady Turcanu noted that the “Society of Blessed Matrona” is “not part of the metropolitanate.” “In the Chisinau Metropolis there are various church organizations, they are engaged in social service, but none of them performs such acts as the community of Archpriest Anatoly Chibrik. Metropolitan Vladimir (Kantaryan) never gave his blessing to the activities of the matrons, especially to their hooligan actions, including in relation to Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev. Father Anatoly arbitrarily uses the name of the Chisinau Metropolitan where it is convenient for him. The case becomes loud, Chibrik cannot back down and begins to drag Metropolitan Vladimir into this feud. Chibrik accuses Patriarch Kirill of ecumenism, and Kuraev accuses Chibrik of heresy. Both of them do not act according to church canons, it reminds me of a fight between two boys who argued whose dad is stronger. The decision that this or that person is a heretic, which means that he should be excommunicated from the Church, is made not by Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, but at least by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kuraev has no right to publicly express accusations of this kind. If you, as a theologian, see serious canonical violations, collect evidence and transfer it to the church court, and the court, after consideration, will transfer the conclusions to the Holy Synod for a decision. Chibrik was just waiting for a spark to start a scandal; moreover, he is attracting not only the Metropolitan, but also a number of elders from Athos. Archpriest Anatoly has long been known in Moldova. He had done something before: he transported the relics of saints throughout the country, during which some funds were collected for unknown purposes, then he organized the throwing of eggs at a cinema during the screening of the film “The Da Vinci Code”, he destroyed the Jewish Hanukkiah in the center of Chisinau. St. John Chrysostom says that a priest should be like a living icon, but how can a “living icon” throw eggs at a cinema? He is bored of living peacefully, so every month he arranges something. There are enough reasons for the Synod to meet and make some decision regarding his community,” the priest believes.

In his opinion, “the latest scandal began with Chibrik holding a press conference where he announced that Patriarch Kirill was communicating fraternally with Pope Benedict XVI, and Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin was allegedly receiving a blessing from the Pontiff. The Patriarch must meet with the Pope and other religious leaders. He is the head of our church administration. If the Patriarch doubted the truth of the Orthodox Church, as Chibrik hints, he would have long ago become a believer of the Roman Catholic Church.”

“In the history of the Church we have Ecumenical Councils, where both Patriarchs and heretics met, but they met not in order to unite in one faith, but to separate truth from error. But since Father Anatoly is not familiar with the history of the Church, he began to sow panic and discontent among the Orthodox believers of Moldova. Metropolitan Vladimir did not react to what happened. This was a mistake. The Bishop is inclined to trust people, and Father Anatoly speculates on this. Sometimes Metropolitan Vladimir is not even aware of what Chibrik is doing. And Chibrik says to the Metropolitan: here, Vladyka, Kuraev said that we are all heretics, “comrades in robes.” Who are we? "Matrona Society" or the entire metropolis? Chibrik is misleading the Metropolitan…” concluded Archpriest Gennady Turcanu.

Moldovan priest testified about corruption in the Federal Penitentiary Service

The former head of one of the departments of the Moldavian Metropolitanate, Gennady Tsurcanu, testified in the case of a high-ranking employee of the Federal Penitentiary Service Oleg Korshunov. The priest received loans with the help of an official and helped him receive church awards

Gennady Tsurkanu (Photo: ruchess.ru)

The case of the former deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), Oleg Korshunov, accused of corruption, contains the testimony of the priest Gennady Turcanu. According to him, Korshunov helped obtain loans for commercial and charitable projects for a long time, but then began to “distance himself from ordinary people.” RBC has it at its disposal.

Oleg Korshunov was detained in September 2017. Deputy Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service for embezzlement, fraud and several episodes of taking bribes. Now the Gagarinsky court is considering one of the cases against him - about fraud in the purchase of shoes for prisoners.

Korshunov does not admit guilt and calls the accusation absurd. According to him, he had nothing to do with the contract service of the Federal Penitentiary Service and could not interfere in the course of open tenders. His lawyer Alexander Linnikov considers the client “a victim of slander and arbitrariness of the special services,” and the criminal cases against him as “falsification based on false testimony, speculation and fraud.”

One of the cases brought against Korshunov is related to embezzlement of sugar in government purchases and extortion of bribes from businesswoman Marina Dyukova. Also involved in this case is the owner of the Zhilkredit bank, Anna Ribitskaya, who left Russia and, according to investigators, mediated the extortion of a bribe.

Loans for Gennady's father

Investigator Andrei Veniaminov interrogated Gennady Tsurkana on June 27 of this year. According to the priest, he met Korshunov in 2009 at the Chaikhona restaurant on Leninsky Prospekt. They were introduced to each other by mutual acquaintances - businessmen involved in fuel supplies.

“I was engaged in various commercial activities, led various projects, including those related to charity. I periodically needed to borrow money, in connection with this I turned to Korshunov with a request for financial assistance,” Turcanu said during interrogation. At the same time, Korshunov personally never helped him and recommended that he contact the bank.

“About six months after we met, he took me to the Zhilkredit bank, where he introduced me to the chairman of the bank’s board [Anna] Ribitskaya, who was his long-time acquaintance and business partner. After meeting Ribitskaya, I periodically contacted the specified bank with a request for cash loans. When granting me another loan, Ribitskaya received Korshunov’s approval. He actually acted as my guarantor to the bank,” the priest’s testimony says.

Loan amounts ranged from 1 million to 20 million rubles. Turcanu, according to him, always repaid loans with interest, but at the time of interrogation he had a debt to Zhilkredit of 15 million rubles. “I took out loans from the bank on the basis of receipts. There was no agreement; Korshunov’s verbal confirmation was enough,” the priest said. Having started working at the Federal Penitentiary Service, Korshunov continued to coordinate with Tsurkan the issuance of loans from Zhilkredit, while “strongly recommending” that they be returned: “He jokingly said that if I was imprisoned for fraud, he would give me a cell with a window.”

Tsurkanu, according to him, did not conduct any business with the Federal Penitentiary Service, but at Korshunov’s request, he “carried out the christening of his relatives, acquaintances, as well as the child of the first deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, Anatoly Rudoy,” the testimony says.

“I was considered as his man”

“In addition, [Korshunov] asked me for letters from the metropolitan, I did not refuse,” Turcanu added. What kind of certificates are meant is not explained in the protocol. In a conversation with RBC, Tsurkanu clarified that, on his own initiative, he wrote a petition to Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and All Moldova to reward Korshunov for helping the metochion of the Moldavian Church in Moscow: “One time 20 thousand rubles. gave, once bought a set of church utensils for the temple. I wrote a report and asked the bishop to give him a medal in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Moldavian Metropolis.”

From December 2016 to May 2017, Korshunov called Tsurkan on the phone 13 times, as follows from the FSB memorandum certificates that the investigator presented to the priest during interrogation. During these conversations, Korshunov demanded to repay the debt to Zhilkredit, Turcanu claimed. “The tone of his statements was outrageous. After his appointment to the position of deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Korshunov began to distance himself from ordinary citizens and looked down on his acquaintances. He arrived late to meetings and made people wait. As a rule, he came on a Harley Davidson motorcycle,” the priest said during interrogation.

The owner of Zhilkredit, Ribitskaya, never demanded the debt from Turcanu directly - only through Korshunov, since the priest “was considered his man,” he clarified. “It seemed to me that she was experiencing psychological problems. She said that she sees visions in her dreams, during which she meets with the Mother of God and angels who advise her, which will supposedly bring her a lot of money. I didn’t understand what she was talking about, and, in turn, recommended that she see a psychologist,” - this is how Turcanu described his last meeting with Ribitskaya in 2016.

In a conversation with RBC, Tsurcanu described Korshunov as a “devout person.” According to him, their acquaintance was due to the fact that Korshunov needed to organize the baptism of his granddaughter in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior; Subsequently, Tsurcanu helped him with pilgrimages to the relics of saints, which were brought to Moscow: “He always went to the priests to consult, apparently he had some problems,” the priest concluded, adding that he regretted what happened to Korshunov. “I can’t say anything bad about him.” Neither I owe him anything, nor he owes me anything.”

Who is Father Gennady

Archpriest Gennady Turcanu was the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moldavian Metropolis. According to Moldovan media, in 2012 he was removed from this position, but in September 2013 he was again mentioned as chairman of the DECR.

Tsurkanu was the founder of the Charitable Foundation named after St. Paisius Velichkovsky, as follows from SPARK data. The main activity of the fund is “providing other financial services, except for insurance and pension services, not included in other groups.” In August 2017, Peresvet Bank filed a bankruptcy claim with the Moscow Arbitration Court for the Paisiy Velichkovsky Foundation; at the end of September this year, the claim was satisfied.

In September 2016, the NTV channel reported that the capital police were looking for Tsurkana in connection with a statement from a Muscovite who rented out a five-room apartment to him. She claimed that Tsurkanu disappeared without paying her for three months of rent (a month cost 250 thousand rubles), while stealing a designer sofa and threatening her. “The police checked and found out that I did not steal any sofa. She just wanted to spoil things for me. The case was not initiated,” Tsurkanu explained to RBC.

According to NTV, Turcanu was excommunicated from the church after he was seen relaxing in a nightclub. In a conversation with RBC, he stated that he had never been excommunicated from the church or banned from ministry. “I was voluntarily removed from the post of DECR chairman. I wrote a report because my work requires me to be in Moldova, and I lived in Moscow,” the priest said. RBC sent a request to the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for relations with society and the media.​

On March 23, a meeting between the delegation of the Orthodox Church of Moldova and the management of OJSC Gazprombank took place in Moscow, as a result of which a joint decision was made to open a representative office of Gazprombank in the Republic of Moldova. At our request, the chairman of the DECR PMC, Rev. Gennady Tsurkanu.

MOLDOVA ORTODOXĂ: How did mutual interest in cooperation between the Moldavian Metropolis and such a large financial structure as Gazprombank arise?

Prot. Gennady Tsurcanu: We offered the bank a number of social projects that need to be developed in Moldova, exactly where the presence of the Church is necessary. I mean, for example, the mission in penitentiary institutions, medical institutions, and orphanages. Today, the Moldavian Metropolis does not have its own space to house the Theological Seminary and Academy. This requires material resources. We also plan to establish a pension system for priests and the entire church clergy, and create our own pension fund. These are serious, quite ambitious projects, and resolving such issues is my direct responsibility as the DECR Chairman, who is responsible for establishing contacts with the world of politics and business structures. It is clear that for successful development we need to use effective financial instruments, one of which is long-term cooperation with Gazprombank.

Unfortunately, sometimes you can hear the opinion that the Orthodox Church of Moldova seeks to own banks and engage in some kind of financial speculation - this is not true, only people who are far from the real life of the Church can think this way. The Bank is a very beneficial partner for our country, providing material resources and valuable experience for the implementation of social projects and charitable initiatives.

The scheme of our cooperation should be built on the principle of socially oriented investment. This is neither a donation in the literal sense of the word nor a classic investment with the goal of extracting maximum profit. The presence of a large Russian bank will help many Moldovan enterprises revive their activities and increase the number of jobs. We not only ask, but are ready to offer mutually beneficial cooperation.

There have always been good relations between Russia and Moldova, both political and financial. Russia has always been a major market for Moldova - this applies to the export of wine, fruit, etc. But today there are no long-term obligations between the parties, there is no large-scale mutually beneficial cooperation, this reliable economic bridge connecting our states. Therefore, the Church intercedes for the rights of Moldovan entrepreneurs. The success of our producers will lead to increased employment, this is the key to solving complex social problems. I hope that this project will restore the trust between our countries that existed before.

The opening of a representative office of Gazprombank in Chisinau is a direct confirmation that Russia is interested in cooperation with Moldova and is ready to invest real funds in the economy and in the development of the infrastructure of our republic. Today, there is a verbal agreement between the management of OJSC Gazprombank and PCM on the development of cooperation. A high-level meeting is planned for April 8 in Chisinau, at which a letter of intent will be signed. In the future, it is necessary to discuss in more detail the form of work and the immediate plans according to which this project will be implemented.

MOLDOVA ORTODOXĂ: How do you plan to develop the social and humanitarian aspects of your activities?

Prot. Gennady Tsurcanu: We will look for ways to solve the most important economic and social problems of Moldova. First of all, this is stagnation in industry and population migration. Look what is happening now: only two factories are functioning, a third of the population has left the country, where it is impossible to find work. We hope that with the help of the bank’s investments, production in Moldova will be revived, new jobs will be created, and this, in turn, will help stop population migration, which is a real tragedy for the country. After all, many families are divided, children grow up without parents, old people do not see their children... For such social programs to work, it is necessary to attract investments and conduct effective financial management.

MOLDOVA ORTODOXĂ: In your opinion, does the Orthodox Church today need people who combine the functions of a priest and a financier?

Prot. Gennadiy Turcanu: Every parish needs to work with a bank. We live in a world where it is impossible to conduct active social and charitable work without the use of banking instruments. Unfortunately, not all clergy know how to manage finances competently; many do not know basic financial rules, so they encounter difficulties. The priest needs to navigate economic terms, understand what a banking instrument is and how to use it. The image of the priest-consumer who devours the houses of widows (Matt. 23:14) is becoming a thing of the past.

A priest of the 21st century must, according to the words of the Holy Apostle Paul, be everything to everyone (1 Cor. 9:22), that is, the Church must also have effective managers. The Apostle Paul speaks of the church community: there are many members, but one body (1 Cor. 12:20). This means that each member of the Church has his own abilities, his own talent, which must be used for the benefit of all. First of all, a clergyman is a man of prayer, a steward of the Mysteries of God, a celebrant of the Eucharist, but in another situation he must become both a teacher and a defender, including an economic defender of his people.

The Church undoubtedly needs people who have the necessary knowledge in economics, who are capable of building an effective socially oriented system of interaction between Church and state, Church and society, and at the same time morally responsible, having the fear of God.