MOSCOW, February 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...
The bill drafted by the economics ministry proposes handing over buildings, land plots and other property to religious organizations that currently use them free of charge. The document also proposes returning all church property seized by the Bolsheviks after the 1917 revolution, Kommersant reported.
Experts said the Russian Orthodox Church, the country's dominant religion, could emerge as a major real estate owner, the paper said.
"Only [gas and railroad monopolies] Gazprom and Russian Railways could then be compared with the Church [in terms of property ownership]," Roman Cheptsov from Prime City Properties consultancy told the daily. "In Moscow, for example, 1 hectare of land is worth about $6-$7 million."
The economics ministry declined to comment on the bill, the paper said. While drafting the document in 2007, however, the ministry said it was aimed at removing the expense of maintaining religious buildings from the federal budget.