The Oryol governor responded to the scandal with the local bishop with the phrase “God is not a fraer

Governor Oryol region Vadim Potomsky spoke in defense of the local bishop Nektary, about whose expensive car journalists wrote a few days ago. The clergyman and his statement that Jesus also wore expensive clothes were criticized even by other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, but Potomsky said that too curious journalists were wrong in this story, because the only one who can judge Nektarios is God, and he “ not a fraer” (seriously). And this is not his only “trump card” statement.

God is not a fraer. He sees everything... Yes, yes... I think I remember... message to the homies 2:17

Note that God and fraer are very similar. So, well done governor. I saw the difference pic.twitter.com/HH5Oidgigk

God is not a fraer, Allah is not a criminal

This is not the first time Potomsky has attracted media attention with his controversial statements and use of words that are difficult to associate with a high government position. Last year he called local media representatives "nonsense" and said they were scaring potential investors away from the region.

Every nonsense that has a pen and a piece of paper points out how bad it is in the Oryol region. He has nothing but a typewriter and has done nothing in this life. He hasn’t created a single job, but he’s pecking, pecking, pecking. What kind of investor will want to come to the region if the situation is constantly escalating?- Vadim Potomsky

The governor has been criticized for such statements for several years. In 2015, he was invited to the “Full Contact” program, where he “scattered into concepts” his views on life when he was directly asked: “Are you a bandit?”

I am a large man, I served in the army sports club, a master of sports in judo, and in all my external data, and in the way I talk and, if necessary, answer any question posed, including if someone needs to show me my physical strength, I don’t stand behind the price, and you need to talk to me within the framework that I allow.- Vadim Potomsky

This question was asked to Potomsky against the backdrop of rumors about his connections with the Malyshevskaya organized crime group - the governor’s opponents claim that his sister was married to one of the group members and ran a waste disposal business in the Leningrad region, with the help of which she received about 360 million rubles from the state budget.

But most famous saying The governor was not the use of “thieves” jargon in official communication, but the statement that Ivan the Terrible (1547-1584) took his sick son for treatment to St. Petersburg (founded in 1703). Potomsky accompanied this statement with the comment “those who do not know history have no future.”

On the radio station “Moscow Speaks,” Governor of the Oryol Region Vadim Potomsky, commenting on the scandal surrounding Bishop Nektary, who demanded that articles about his SUV cost 5 million rubles be removed from the “immoral media.”

“We can go to church, pray, ask for God’s alms. And if we go to God’s representatives and start lynching them and throwing something at them... God is not a fraer. He sees everything. And there is only one judgment: God's judgment. For us, this goes all the way back to the patriarch: he doesn’t have the right watch, he doesn’t live like that, he drives the wrong car,” he said.

Potomsky was also outraged by the fact that journalists dared to ask questions about the priest’s life.

The governor also asked “where is the criterion - this is possible for a priest, but this is not possible.”

“Did he insult anyone? Did he preach the sermon incorrectly? Are there fewer parishioners coming to his parish? Is he not engaged in the restoration of the temple? And I know that Nektariy is engaged and enjoys great respect from the residents. I know for sure that Mr. Mazov, the owner of Oryol News, does not have the right to behave this way,” Potomsky said.

Finally, he noted that the bishop is subordinate to the leadership of the metropolis, and if necessary, the metropolitan can independently resolve this issue if he considers the behavior of the clergyman to be incorrect.

Let us remind you that Bishop Nektary of Liven and Maloarkhangelsk (in the world Nikolai Seleznev) from the online publication “Oryol News” deleted all publications that talk about his Land Cruiser V8 SUV worth 5-6 million rubles.

In a letter he sent to the editor, the priest stated that he was “extremely outraged” by the “false and offensive article” and noted that “such antics undermine the spiritual and moral foundations of our society, casting a shadow on the Holy Church and its honest servants.”

“But our Lord Jesus Christ called for forgiveness of enemies, so I give you the only chance to correct everything and DEMAND that information concerning me be removed from your immoral media (...) and remove the poll in the VKontakte group too,” the bishop demanded.

Otherwise, the priest threatened the journalists with criminal prosecution under the article of insulting the feelings of believers.

Yulia Reprintseva

The radio station “Moscow Speaks” stated that “Oryol News” did not have the right to write about the car of Bishop Nektariy of Livensky and Maloarkhangelsk and threatened the publication with “God’s judgment.”

“We must read the Bible: judge not, lest ye be judged. And when journalists start asking questions about who among the clergy lives how, I have one question: who authorized them to ask this question? And then, where there is a criterion - this is possible for a priest, but this is not. Did he offend anyone? Did he preach the sermon incorrectly? Are there fewer parishioners coming to his parish? Is he not engaged in the restoration of the temple? And I know that Nektariy is engaged and enjoys great respect from the residents. I know for sure that Mr. Mazov, the owner of Oryol News, does not have the right to behave this way,” said the Oryol governor.

The only one who, in his opinion, can make comments to Nectarius is Metropolitan Anthony.

“If he did something wrong, believe me, he does not live in a vacuum, he has a hierarchical subordination. He has Metropolitan Anthony, who can reprimand him if he considers it necessary. But it will be at their level. But when they start a person who has dedicated his entire life to the service of God and people, to the service of faith... We can go to church, pray, and ask for God’s alms. And if we go to God’s representatives and start lynching them and throwing something at them... God is not a fraer. He sees everything. And there is only one judgment: God's judgment. For us, this goes all the way to the patriarch: he doesn’t have the right hours, he doesn’t live like that, he drives the wrong cars,” said Vadim Potomsky.

What he was talking about remains a mystery, since Oryol News did not evaluate the fact that the bishop received a luxury SUV as a gift, but only reported this fact. And asking questions is the direct responsibility of a journalist.

Earlier, journalists discovered that the Oryol bishop had a Land Cruiser V8 registered in his name. The Oryol Metropolitanate stated that this was a gift from one of the agricultural holdings. Oryol News also reprinted this information. On May 29, the editorial office of ON received a letter on diocesan letterhead, stamped and signed by Bishop Nektary. In it, on behalf of the bishop, in the form of an ultimatum, the publication was demanded to remove all the notes that talked about the luxury SUV Land Cruiser V8 with a market value of 5-6 million rubles, owned by the priest. Otherwise, “ON” was threatened with criminal prosecution under the article on insulting the feelings of believers.

On May 30, the secretary of the diocesan bishop of the Liven diocese, Father Alexander, in an interview on Ekho Moskvy, stated that Bishop Nektary has no claims to Oryol News. He also noted that the bishop did not send the letter to our editors. “I don’t know who compiled it and sent it to Oryol News, but I assure you that the Liven diocese, Nektary himself, and none of the employees wrote this letter,” Father Alexander.

Hang your portraits in schools and pass a law on rallies, but also become famous for your knowledge of history and vivid quotes. collected the most controversial statements of the former governor.

“We waited for the owner and waited”

Graduate of the Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile command school and communist Vadim Potomsky headed the Oryol region at the beginning of 2014. He was then appointed acting governor and later won a landslide election victory with 89 percent of the vote. In an interview with “in Oryol,” he stated: “They [the Oryol residents] have been waiting for the owner for a long time. Not some gentleman, but a man who will roll up his sleeves and put things in order here. Well, we waited!”

Apparently, Potomsky ultimately did not live up to the expectations of the residents of the Oryol region: according to the July rating of governors, the communist took 56th place out of 60. Perhaps this is due to the fact that over the past year the region’s debt increased by three billion rubles, and the debts in terms of salaries amounted to 66 million.

“I am the person I am. If I don't like something, I'll say it. I have no one to fear. Especially when I have an army like you.", - Vadim Potomsky confessed in February 2015 in front of the board.

The occupant of the post noticed an ambiguous hint official representative. “Some kind of Napoleon! Amused,” he sarcastically commented on Twitter, expressing the network’s main reaction to the phrases of the odious governor.

"Nonsense" with handles

At the end of 2016, while discussing the economic situation of the region at the coordination council, Vadim Potomsky unexpectedly burst out with abuse at the local media.

“Every nonsense that has a pen and a piece of paper points out how bad it is in the Oryol region. He has nothing but a typewriter and has done nothing in this life. He hasn’t created a single job, but he’s pecking, pecking, pecking.”, - Governor.

According to him, such criticism led to problems with potential investors. Later, however, he argued that “there was no talk about journalists at all,” and the notorious “nonsense” were bloggers and “other commentators in in social networks" But the phrase managed to become a meme.

“Let’s form several baskets for our ministers”

Vadim Potomsky proposed giving baskets to ministers before it became mainstream. But if in fact former head featured a basket of sausage, the governor of the Oryol region spoke exclusively about locally produced environmentally friendly products - butter, cheese, bread and apples.

“Let's form several baskets for our ministers. We will send them to both [Dmitry Medvedev], and we will definitely send two to [Finance Minister Anton] Siluanov,” the governor said at a meeting of the regional administration, expressing confidence that this gesture “will increase the popularity of the Oryol region.”

Ivan the Terrible and St. Petersburg

On June 13, 2016, Vadim Potomsky made two sensational statements. The first - that Catholics are not Christians - went unnoticed against the background of another, louder one: Ivan the Terrible (reigned 1547-1584) did not kill his son, but took him to St. Petersburg (founded in 1703) for treatment. Potomsky accompanied this statement with the comment: “Whoever does not know history has no future.”

“Ivan the Terrible once said the phrase: “I am guilty of the death of my son because I did not give him to the doctors on time.” While they were traveling, he fell ill on the way. They were traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg. His son is dead! - the head of the Oryol region to the amazed press in response to a question about the first in Russia.

Potomsky later explained that he had made a mistake, but this did not stop the flow of jokes online.

“The statement by the US President (...) is a little disturbing”

A year before the sensational reports about the cause of death of the son of Ivan the Terrible, in January 2015, the head of the Oryol region openly admitted how sensitive he was to the words of the head of the United States. This is how the governor tried to explain the two-hour delay to the meeting of the board of the regional department of the Investigative Committee.

“We had to discuss something. Moreover, you know yesterday’s statement by the President of the United States of America, how he ruined the Russian economy, this worries me a little personally, because, as it turns out, I can’t hear such things.”, - Versia.ru quoted him as saying. The phrase did not become a meme, but it was often mentioned by other local media.

“God is not a fraer. He sees everything"

On May 30, 2017, Vadim Potomsky, in a conversation with, stood up for Bishop Nektary, who, as representatives of the local press found out, owned a Toyota Land Cruiser V8. First, the governor quoted the Bible: “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” and then said that he did not understand who authorized journalists to ask questions about the lives of clergy.

“We can go to church, pray, ask for God’s alms. And if we go to God’s representatives, we start lynching them and throwing something at them...

God is not a fraer. He sees everything. And there is only one judgment: God's judgment. For us, this goes all the way to the patriarch: the watch is wrong, he lives wrong, he drives the wrong car,” the head of the region.

16:48 — REGNUM Journalists had no right to ask questions about the expensive car of Bishop Nektariy of Liven and Maloarkhangelsk. This was stated by the governor of the Oryol region Vadim Potomsky radio station "".

“We must read the Bible: judge not, lest ye be judged. And when journalists begin to ask questions about who among the clergy lives how, I have one question: who authorized them to ask this question? And then, where is the criterion - this is possible for a priest , but this is impossible. Did he offend someone? Did he conduct the sermon incorrectly? There are fewer parishioners coming to his parish? “that Mr. Mazov, the owner of Oryol News, does not have the right to behave this way” , - said Potomsky.

“He has Metropolitan Anthony, who can reprimand him if he considers it necessary. But it will be at their level. But when they start a person who has dedicated his entire life to the service of God and people, to the service of faith..." - the governor added.

“We can go to church, pray, ask for God’s alms. And if we go to God’s representatives and start lynching them and throwing something at them... God is not a fraer. He sees everything. And there is only one judgment: God's judgment. With us, this goes all the way back to the patriarch: he doesn’t have the right watch, he doesn’t live like that, he drives the wrong car.” , said Potomsky.

As reported IA REGNUM, the scandal surrounding the car of Bishop Nektary of Liven and Maloarkhangelsk erupted last week. A Land Cruiser V8 worth about six million rubles was found in the possession of the clergyman by journalists from the local publication Oryol News. The diocese then reported that the car was a gift from “one of the agricultural holdings.” The diocese does not see “any manifestation of money-grubbing” in the presence of an expensive car for the bishop.

And later, the editors of Oryol News received a letter on diocesan letterhead, stamped and signed by Bishop Nektary, which contained a demand to remove all publications dedicated to the SUV, otherwise threatening a criminal case under the article of insulting the feelings of believers.

“I am extremely outraged by your deceitful and offensive article posted on your Internet resource newsorel.ru regarding My ministry to the Russian Orthodox Church and to the people of God!” , the letter said.

However, later the secretary of the diocesan bishop of the Liven diocese, Father Alexander, in an interview with Ekho Moskvy, stated that Bishop Nektary had no complaints against journalists, and the diocese had nothing to do with this letter.