Ministry of Culture hinders the re-registration of statutes, – head of the UOC Legal Department

The head of the Legal Department of the UOC, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, supported bill No. 6696 on introducing amendments to the Tax Code, pointing out that officials still create obstacles for re-registering the statutes of the UOC. He said this at a round table in Ukrinform dedicated to the theme: "Religious organizations in the legal field. How to simplify the procedure for obtaining the non-profit status".

"The state can establish conditions regarding the taxation and activities of a religious organization, but they must be systemic and aligned to other regulatory and legal acts, as well as to the nature of the activities of the organization that is registered and whose activities are regulated," said the head of the UOC Legal Department. "Therefore, to date, bill No. 6696 is very relevant, and it is necessary to support it in every possible way."

At the same time, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov stressed that even a good undertaking can create difficulties for the canonical Church.

"So far, the UOC has difficulties with registering statutes at the level of the Ministry of Culture, as well as at the level of regional state administrations, after there are interventions from the side, again, of the Ministry of Culture," Father Alexander said. "So, what do we have for today? On the one hand, the state establishes a condition to amend the statute. On the other hand, there are impediments to making changes to statutory documents, which can have a very negative impact on the image of our state at the international level."