The Russian Orthodox Church has transferred ownership of its assets in Karlovy Vary to its Hungarian branch to prevent them from being frozen by the Czech governmnet. This includes ownership of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, which is now under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Emeritus of Budapest and Hungary.
This is reported by Religion in Ukraine.
For years, Russia has had a strong presence in the western Czech resort town of Karlovy Vary, where Russians have owned homes, hotels and restaurants. In recent decades, their presence has diminished, especially after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Czech Republic’s decision to enact its own version of the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which allows it to impose sanctions on individuals and entities for serious violations of Czech and international law.
Under the Czech version of the Magnitsky Act, the Czech Republic can impose sanctions on individuals in the interests of national security, the protection of human rights, and the fight against terrorism.
The first name added to the Czech government’s national sanctions list was that of Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, over his support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kirill’s designation means he is banned from entering the Czech Republic, any assets he has in the country shall be frozen while he is banned from conducting any financial transactions there.
In 2023, the Czech government also froze Russian state property in the Czech Republic, including the company that manages these assets on its national sanctions list. The move was intended to ensure that the company’s income in the country would not be used to finance the war in Ukraine.
Last year, Mykola Lischenyuk, an Orthodox priest at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary, was expelled from the Czech Republic and later stripped of his honorary citizenship on suspicion of hostile activity and espionage, including support for separatist movements in the EU.
Fearing an asset freeze, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Moscow Patriarchate in the Czech Republic, quickly transferred ownership of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary to the Hungarian Branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, a friendly branch of the same institution (the Budapest-Hungarian Eparchy of the ROC – ed.).
Experts who warned of a possible transfer of assets expressed disappointment that this could not be prevented and the assets were not frozen in time.
Starting this year, the new head of the ROC in the Czech Republic is Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev), Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary.
