On September 3, 2009 a meeting of the AUCC Secretariate. Ihor Rudzik, the Ukranian Lutheran Church Secretary took part in the meeting. Church-state relations were reviewed and were evaluated well. Two Ukrainian government decisions make life of churches easier now: 1) foreign missionaries can stay without any additional trouble as long as their religious visas (P-visas) last and 2) natural gas prices for churches are at the level of prices for common citizens. In Ukraine profit companies pay for natural gas more than common citizens. Till recently churches had to pay the same price as commerical companies, although churches are non-profit organizations and their "incomes" are usually offerings and donations of common people. Natural gas is the main source of heating energy in Ukraine, where winter can start in November and last till April.
The above mentioned decisions were made after the AUCC members, including Bishop Horpynchuk, had a meeting with Mrs. Yulia Tymoshenko, the Prime-Minister of Ukraine, in August 2009.
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