Greek Catholics agree with Orthodox that church is not subject of entrepreneurial activity

The church is not a subject of entrepreneurial activity, and, therefore, is to pay for utilities according to the tariffs envisaged for the population and not for companies, the head of the Department of Information of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Fr. Ihor Yatsiv, said as he commented on Resolution 869 “On ensuring a unified approach to set utility tariffs” for companies and churches, reported Gazeta.ua.

“It is not fair when the church pays for power or gas according to the tariffs of commercial companies which earn money by entrepreneurial activity. The church is not a subject of entrepreneurial activity. It carries out its activity at the expense of the donations of the faithful on whom taxes are already imposed at their work places,” noted Fr. Yatsiv.

In his opinion, the utility tariffs for churches should be the same as for the population.

The priest noted that his church has not considered the possibility of challenging the government resolution as such questions are settled jointly with the members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, of which the UGCC is part.

"A discussion on this subject will be considerably more substantial and productive if it is conducted at the level of the whole council and not by a separate denomination,” said Fr. Yatsiv.

According to him, the next session of the council has not yet been held. “I do not know when the next meeting is to take place. At the time of the last session, the utility issue did not exist,” added the head of the Information Department .

Let us remind the readers that on September 9, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Volodymyr, asked Ukraine’s president in a letter not to raise the utility tariffs.