by Nina Achmatova

The Patriarchate and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation signed an agreement that formalises cooperation between Church and State. According to the Orthodox primate, society’s woes stem from the destruction of values ​​and the economic collapse that occurred in the 1990s. Corruption costs the state more than US$ 600 million.

Moscow (AsiaNews) – The church can help the state fight corruption more effectively since it educates people in the spirit of evangelical values and the highest moral requirements, Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill said at the signing ceremony of an agreement on cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia’s Accounts Chamber, which formalises relations between Church and state.

The agreement was signed in the Throne Room of the patriarchal in St Daniel's monastery. Tatiana Golikova inked the deal for the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.

The agreement was reached in order to improve the moral climate in Russia and preserve its national, spiritual, historical, and cultural heritage, which is a necessary condition for the successful development of the state and improvement of the life of citizens, Russia’s official news agency Ria Novosti wrote.

"The work of the Accounts Chamber has a substantial impact on the moral climate in society. We know that corruption, or speaking more simply stealing degrades the human individual. And if corruption reaches substantial levels, it erodes the healthy tissue of human society and undermines the foundations of the state," the patriarch said.

According to Kirill, the citizens of the Russian Federation went through difficult times in the 1990s and early 2000s as a result of "The collapse of the economy, the collapse of public psychology, the destruction of certain ideals and the attempt to create new ideals."

This is why the Accounts Chamber today is "the most effective" and perhaps "the only strong body capable of controlling the use of government resources,” the Russian Orthodox primate added.

"It seems to me that this is the correct route of cooperation between the church and state," Golikova said.

Still, despite government promises to eradicate the widespread problem, corruption is still an endemic scourge in Russia.

Recently, a spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, said that losses for the state from corruption offenses amount to about 40 billion rubles a year (US$ 660 million).

At the same time however, the authorities seem unwilling to recognise the magnitude of the problem.

Whilst Markin noted that corruption is widespread at the lowest echelons among doctors or teachers who take bribes to increase their income, he failed to mention graft in big business and government.

In its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International ranked Russia 136th out of 175, on a par with countries like Nigeria, Lebanon, Iran and Cameroon, where corruption is a real scourge plaguing the economy and depriving the state of valuable resources.

• russia
• corruption
• orthodox
• church
• state
• patriarch
• kirill