Rila, Bulgaria, June 3, 2020
Photo: dir.bg
The Bulgarian government will allocate more than $1 million (1.9 million Bulgarian lev) to the famous St. John of Rila Monastery with which it will continue its reconstruction and pay its employees and develop other important projects, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated on a visit to the monastery yesterday.
Borisov headed for the UNESCO Heritage site after it became known that the monastery was on the verge of bankruptcy, as the Holy Synod was unable to pay its subsidy due to the financial difficulties arising from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, reports dnes.dir.bg.
The Council of Ministers is to vote on allocating $343,535 (600,000 lev) to the monastery today, the Prime Minister promised.
“In practice, we have decided, to give as much now as last year, outside the salaries we gave to the Synod. The money will be allocated directly through the Ministry of Finance for reconstruction and to pay the people,” Borisov said.
He also noted that, after discussions with the abbot, His Grace Bishop Evlogy, it was decided to allocate an additional $744,615 (1.3 million lev) for a treatment plant. “The wastewater should be treated before it enters the river,” the Prime Minister said.
He also praised the new road leading to the monastery that the government laid two years ago and promised to continue facilitating any necessary repairs.
And all this “so that God can help us, as we did not close the churches on Pascha,” Borisov explained.
The Council of Ministers will also allocate money for the Troyan and Bachkovo Monasteries, which also did not receive their usual subsidies from the Holy Synod.
