Abandoned church construction site bears testimony to waning Russian influence in North Macedonia · Global Voices
The construction site of the Holy Trinity Church, near Hotel Russia and Jane Sandanski sports complex, all developed by <PERSON>'s companies. Photo by Global Voices, CC-BY.
The business empire of a Russian tycoon in North Macedonia, built largely on political connections with the former government, seems to be going through a slump — at least if an abandoned church construction site in the capital Skopje is any indication.
<PERSON>, originally from Rostov-on-Don in Russia, owns a plethora of businesses in the Balkan country, from betting parlors to hotel and construction firms, although he is most famous for the ownership of Macedonia's biggest football club, FK Vardar, and the male and female versions of Vardar Handball club. <PERSON> has promised to sell them in 2017 but hasn't fulfilled his words thus far.
His fortune seems to have waned since the Russia-backed political party VMRO-DPMNE lost the 2016 elections after ruling for a decade. The right-wing populist government combined a particular brand of Macedonian nationalism with an Orthodox Christian identity. The party is so intertwined with the church that its statute even has a clause establishing that, in an event of a dissolution, all its properties would go to the Macedonian Orthodox Church — Ohrid Archbishopric, or MOC-OA.
Research by the Investigative Reporting Lab, a Macedonian outlet that is part of the non-profit, cross-national network The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), revealed that <PERSON>'s businesses experienced a boom after he donated 1,8 million euros (over two million US dollars) to MOC-OA. This money allegedly financed the construction of a Russian-style church in the municipality of Aerodrom, in the capital Skopje.
But according to a report by local news site Ako.mk, construction of the Holy Trinity Church, as it's called, ceased in 2016 — shortly before the VMRO-DPMNE was voted out of power. The last residents of the site seem to have been two guard dogs who went without food for days, and their howling disturbed the neighborhood. Without supervision, the left-over building material has been gradually removed by thieves.
A blessing worth millions of dollars
Call for donations with a model of the unfinished church kept in nearby Hotel Russia. Photo by Global Voices, CC-BY.
The church's foundation stone ceremony took place in June 2014. 363
It was attended by the Russian ambassador and high Macedonian government officials, notably the then-Secret Service Chief <PERSON>. A first-cousin of then-Prime Minister <PERSON>, <PERSON> was considered to be one of the most powerful men of the previous government.
According to the Investigative Reporting Lab, soon after <PERSON>'s generous donation to MOC-OA, local authorities granted him a 35-year concession to rebuild and then operate a local public sports center. The center was then upgraded with a new hotel named “Russia”. The municipality facilitated the concession by changing zoning laws, in addition to waiving communal taxes associated with the construction of the sports center, the hotel, and the church.
Investigative Reporting Lab's research revealed that, in 2015, the <PERSON>'s company that had donated to the church turned a profit of around 747 thousand euros (around 840 thousand US dollars). And an investigation conducted by independent outlet NovaTV during that year alleged that some of the capital related to <PERSON>'s investments moved through shell companies from Cyprus and Belize, which in turn were also connected to other cronies of the regime.
The church site is now abandoned — just like its website, which displays no recent news and is full of unfinished sections. Incidentally, the website doesn't list <PERSON> in the list of donors. Instead, it cites Father <PERSON> or <PERSON>, a Macedonian priest living in Russia who briefly became internet-famous in 2012 after trying (and awkwardly failing) to kiss <PERSON> hand while on camera.
Construction site of the Holy Trinity Church in Skopje. Photo by Global Voices, CC-BY.
Meanwhile, investigations on the corruption of the former ruling VMRO-DPMNE, which has helped <PERSON>'s businesses to thrive, have resulted in several politicians being sentenced in court. That includes the former Prime Minister <PERSON>, who fled to Hungary in November 2018 in order to avoid a two-year prison sentence. His cousin, former Secret Service Chief <PERSON>, was sentenced last week to three years in prison for election fraud.
<PERSON> has not been publicly mentioned as a target of such investigations so far. 704