The gathering approved a report of the executive director on the foundation's performance in the year's first nine months as well as the organisation's draft budget for the remainder of 2011.

Mr Zubkov highlighted rapid progress in the New Jerusalem Monastery's renovation. "The works are in full swing," he said. "Nearly 500 specialists are engaged in the project full-time. In 2012, their number will rise to 1,200. We have some tangible results already. For instance, the cross of the Nadvratnaya [Above-the-Gate] Church has just been restored and put back in place; the refurbishment of the church's interior will be completed by December 1; and the Sunday school building is to reopen even earlier, on October 30. Repairs to the belfry and the Resurrection (Voskresensky) Cathedral are still ongoing, and work is underway to fortify the hill slope where the monastic compound is located."

"By 2016. 28 of the monastery's sites are to be restored and renovated," Mr Zubkov said. "This is a major collaborative effort of the state, the Church, and the public."

The charity foundation for restoring the New Jerusalem Monastery (also known as the Voskresensky monastery) was set up in 2008 at President Dmitry Medvedev's initiative and in support of a proposal by the prelate of the Russian Orthodox Church. First Deputy Prime Minister Zubkov was appointed as head of the foundation's governing body. President Medvedev and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia co-chair the charity foundation's Board of Trustees.