The Russian Orthodox Church has asked Smolny for the Tikhvin Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

In a document signed by the Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, is contained A request to transfer the building of the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra to the diocese for free use for a period of 100 years "for use in accordance with the goals of the diocese, as defined by its charter." 

Currently, the Tikhvin Church is under the operational management of the Museum of Urban Sculpture.

NeMoskva reported that the Russian Orthodox Church constantly lays claim to buildings of great historical, artistic, and social significance. For example, churches moved away building Vladimirsky Crystal Museum and Complex Ryazan Kremlin. Embankment in Krasnodar in the Yubileiny microdistrict instead of the promised park have given away Russian Orthodox Church for the temple complex. And in Nizhny Novgorod и Saratov The Russian Orthodox Church builds church buildings without permission in the region, and then legitimizes them through the court.