BANGKOK, November 27. /TASS/. Early next year, construction on a Russian Orthodox Church parish will begin in Yangon, the former capital city of Myanmar, Patriarchal Exarch of Southeast Asia and Metropolitan of Singapore and Southeast Asia Sergiy said at a roundtable in Bangkok.

"Last year I was fortunate enough to meet Chairman of the State Administration Council of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Min Aung Hlaing. As a result of the meeting, a number of issues were solved quicker than expected, like the registration of the Russian Orthodox Church in this country and the allocation of a small land plot in downtown Yangon where the church will be erected. Our plan is to start building the church in Yangon as early as in the first ten days of 2025," the Metropolitan said.

"The number of compatriots living in Southeast Asian countries on a long-term or permanent basis has been growing since the early 2000s, thus we began receiving requests to open parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church from a number of countries. And the church could not just ignore them," the Metropolitan noted. In 2018, the Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia was established, which comprises thirteen countries with 84 parishes in them, he added.