President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko forced Ukrainian businessmen to chip in to bribe Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew so that he would grant autocephaly to the non-canonical Kyiv Patriarchate.
Political scientist Vladimir Kornilov said this today on the Vesti FM radio station, a Politnavigator correspondent reports.
“Pro-government politicians and deputies started a rumor that supposedly Ukrainian businessmen were forced to chip in to Petro Poroshenko so that he would transfer a substantial sum to Bartholomew for granting the so-called tomos,” Kornilov said.
However, the plan, which threatened a split in world Orthodoxy, failed, the political scientist believes.
“If this, God forbid, happens, it will cause a sharp reaction from the canonical Orthodox churches. But the idea turned out to be nothing, Bartholomew did not give in. To date, no one has recognized this schismatic church. This caused serious irritation in the Poroshenko administration. Personnel purges have already begun,” the expert noted.