Several Phanar Archons in US lobby on behalf of Russian banks, UOJ reports

Left – Andrew and Mike Manatos. Photo: UOJ

Journalists of the UOJ’s U.S. bureau learned that two Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in America had engaged in lobbying on behalf of Russian banks in the United States.

The UOJ editors in the U.S. recalled that an article published by The Hill, along with statements by U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson regarding an inter-Orthodox delegation planning to hold meetings on Capitol Hill, sent shockwaves through the Orthodox world.

The inter-Orthodox delegation that visited the White House sought to draw attention to the ongoing religious persecutions against the UOC and to speak with elected officials – which is their constitutional right.

A day later, a statement by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate poured gasoline on the situation. Calling clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) “boosters of Vladimir Putin’s unjust, immoral and monstrous war against Ukraine,” the Archons also explicitly called the priests and hierarchs “lobbyists for Putin.”

Since representatives of various jurisdictions were present at these meetings, the consequences of these accusations were felt not only by ROCOR – they also created tension within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Although Orthodox Christians are accustomed to expecting the worst from secular media and dubious politicians, the fact that stones were being thrown by the Archons of the Patriarchate of Constantinople came as a shock, the UOJ’s American edition writes.

In particular, the archons wrote: “When the Ecumenical Patriarch granted autocephaly (independence) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on January 6, 2019, a splinter group calling itself the Ukrainian Orthodox Church remained aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate. That splinter group, an arm of the Moscow Patriarchate, is now targeting and killing members of the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine, targeting civilians in order to sow terror among the population and make them too frightened to join the canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”

The U.S. edition of the UOJ believes that “the archons were throwing stones from a glass house.”

The UOJ discovered that Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Andrew and Mike Manatos had spent decades working as lobbyists in Washington. The father-son duo leads the firm Manatos & Manatos, which The Washington Post once described as “one of Washington’s most powerful lobbying firms.”

This quote is featured prominently in both men’s Archon profiles. For example, Andrew’s profile on the Archons’ website states: “Working closely with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, on whose national council he serves and as a regional commander of the Order of St. Andrew, his firm created and maintains an annual meeting with each president of the United States for 27 years with the Greek-American community. Manatos managed the legislation that secured the Congressional Gold Medal for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, secured use of the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for honoring Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios, the second time in history the Rotunda was used to honor a living person. He also orchestrated efforts producing letters to the president advocating religious freedom for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, signed by 90 of the 100 senators and more than 291 members of Congress.”

Mike’s profile states: “During his 28-year career as a federal lobbyist, he has devoted much of his time, on a pro-bono basis, to protect and promote the religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the most influential US policymakers in the US Congress, White House, State Department and other agencies. He also arranges meetings for the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America and other church leaders with various high-level US government officials.”

There is one fact the Manatoses do not mention on the Archons’ website. Nearly a decade ago they undertook lobbying work for VTB Capital, Inc., a subsidiary of VTB – one of Russia’s two largest banks. As of 2016, more than 60% of that bank belonged to the Russian state.

According to FARA filings, the firm Manatos & Manatos provided services including “the provision of government strategies counsel and advice and lobbying directed toward the United States Congress and Administration on behalf of VTB Group regarding the imposition of sanctions by the US government on Russian-affiliated banks,” as well as “arranging meetings between VTB Group officials and US policymakers; drafting language for use in correspondence; monitoring statements and policy related to the imposition of sanctions.”

This work was performed for a monthly fee of $17,500 plus expenses.

The UOJ’s American edition notes that it is not seeking to criticize the professional activity of the Manatos family. “We are not even attempting to 'get back' at the Archons for what was an extremely inappropriate statement. Rather, we would simply like to use this opportunity to illustrate how careless that statement was – both towards other Orthodox Christians, and with the Archons’ complete oversight of their own roster.”

The inter-Orthodox delegation held meetings on Capitol Hill in defense of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church, while the firm Manatos & Manatos apparently held similar meetings on behalf of Russian state-owned banks, the UOJ in the U.S. observes.

“Last week, the Archons urged the Trump administration to cancel meetings 'with what are essentially Russian state agents.' If the Trump administration follows this advice moving forward, the Archons will be able to look back fondly on the days when they had a seat at the table,” the UOJ editors in America concluded.

Earlier the UOJ reported that, according to the Phanar archons, the UOC is persecuting and killing members of the OCU.

Read also