Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance
Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance (Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет экономики и финансов) as it was known formally was established in 1930 as "Leningrad Institute of Finance and Economics" (Ленинградский финансово-экономический институт; hence the colloquial name Финэк (Finec)). It is now united with Saint Petersburg State University of Service and Economics and Saint Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics to create Saint Petersburg State University of Economics. The campus of the University occupies the buildings of the former Assignation Bank, which were designed by the Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi.
History
Leningrad Institute of Finance and Economics (LFEI) was created on the basis of the restructured economic faculty of Saint Petersburg Politechnical Institute on the 3 of June 1930. First students were admitted to the Institute in September 1930.
LFEI was enlarged several times, by merging first with the Moscow Institute of Finance and Economics in 1934, then in 1940 with Higher Institute of Finance and Economics (Leningrad) and Financial Academy (Leningrad).
During the World War II the Institute was evacuated first to Essentuki and then to Tashkent. Finec renewed its operations in Leningrad on the 1 of September 1944.
In 1954 LFEI was merged with Leningrad Planning Institute. In 1963 it was named after Russian economist and politician Nikolai Voznesensky. From 1966 to 1991 Yuri Lavrikov was rector of the institute.
On 23 of September 1991, by the decree of the Council of Ministers of RSFSR, N.A. Voznesenski Leningrad Institute of Economics and Finance was renamed Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. During the post-soviet years, the University firmly established itself among the leaders of the Russian economic schools, being the first in the official ratings of the Russian Ministry of Education for more than a decade. In October 1991 L. Tarasevich has become the rector of the University. In December 2006 Igor Maksimtsev was elected as the new rector.
At present the university enrolls about 13,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, who are given instruction at 11 faculties and 40 departments. Every department provides different specializations, the list of which is revised annually in accordance with the changing conditions of the labor market. Its teaching staff numbers 850, 80% of whom have advanced academic degrees. The latest methods of teaching, as well as modern technologies are used in academic instruction.
Assignation Bank
In 1769, during the reign of Catherine the Great, the Assignation Bank was founded in St. Petersburg to issue and exchange banknotes in the denomination of 25, 50, 75 and 100 rubles. These notes, known as Assignation rubles, were based on the copper money then circulating in the country. Moscow branch of the Assignation Bank was founded at the same time. At the start, the equity of each branch amounted to 500 thousand rubles.
Soon the bank began to accept deposits at 5% per annum and grant loans of 10-25 thousand rubles. In 1786, the Moscow and St. Petersburg branches merged to form the "Imperial Assignation Bank", which was allowed to perform currency exchange operations with foreign states.
In 1799-1805, the buildings of the bank also housed the Saint Petersburg Mint, which produced coinage. By 1817 the bank had issued banknotes worth 836 million rubles, and the value of these Assignation rubles declined considerably. In 1843, Assignation ruble notes were withdrawn from circulation, and replaced by the state credit notes (Russian: государственные кредитные билеты). These were issued by the newly created State Bank, which was also housed on Sadovaya Street.
In 1930 the building of the former Assignation Bank was granted to the forerunner of St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance.
Architecture
Main Building
The Assignation Bank was erected on Sadovaya Street, not far from Gostiny Dvor (Merchant Yard), by the decree of Catherine II of 1782. Previously, this site was occupied by the Marine Market, which was destroyed by fire. The same decree assigned the construction of the bank to an Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi. It became one of his first projects in St. Petersburg. Quarenghi began the construction of the Academy of Sciences, the Hermitage Theatre and the Silver Rows simultaneously with the bank building. The Bank building was completed in 1790.
The site had a trapezoidal shape formed by Sadovaya Street, two lanes and the Catherine Canal, which had been dug shortly before. On the other side of Sadovaya Street there were wooden markets Apraksin Dvor and Shchukin Dvor. Quarenghi used the layout similar to that of Bartolomeo Rastrelli’s Vorontsovsky Palace, with horseshoe-shaped mint vaults as side wings. The office building is in the center of the ‘horseshoe’, light transversal galleries connecting it with vaults. Quarenghi embellished the strict and elegant structure by porticos at the horseshoe ends and along the axis of the office building, which is outlined by the beautiful cast-iron railing towering on the granite pillars. Two pavilions are flanking the entrance. Spatiality of the composition is emphasized by different Greek column orders: the outside porticos of the mint vaults, as well as the entrance pavilions, are styled in the monumental and heavy Doric order, and the six-column portico of the office building is of a more elegant Corinthian order. The light and airy architecture in conjunction with open galleries made the front yard appear more spacious and impressive.
Quarengi organized the internal space of the two buildings according to their functional purpose. The utilitarian Mint was laid out as a corridor between two perimeter rows of storerooms, each ending with guardhouses or guardrooms. The main building has enfilade arrangement and grand main staircase. The side walls are plastically designed with pairs of Corinthian pilasters and statues in niches. A more rigorous and monumental lobby is decorated in Doric order.
When the ensemble of the Assignation Bank was completed in 1790, Quarenghi apparently believed it to be his major success, and in 1791 he assisted in publishing the album of 8 engravings of the new complex: layouts, façades, sections and a fence draft.
It was Karl Ivanovich Rossi who undertook to overcome the restrictions of this rudimentary creative method in the early third of the 19th century. As early as 1817 the wall overlooking the Catherine Canal was replaced with cast iron railing, designed by the architect Ernst Ruska. Then the galleries were opened and built up as high as the main building. In the late 19th century the Mint building facing the Canal was also increased in height. Many changes have taken place in the interior design, especially after the building was transferred to the Finance and Economics Institute in 1930 (now St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance).
Cast Iron Railing
The cast iron railing along Sadovaya Street constitutes one of the essential components in the overall concept, perhaps it even served a prototype for the Summer Garden lattice in the late 1770s.
Quarenghi did not come to his final solution straightaway: the Bank Board had repeatedly rejected the architect's plans, considering them too gorgeous compared to the business function of the building. One of the reports, for example, stated: “... the shapes above and below the middle border, and at the bottom of all the other things should be eliminated and replaced with plain rectangular bars ... Lances are to be made of iron, while the descending brushes as well as round ornaments within the middle border shall be made of bronze.”
The solemn railing focuses on the harmony of the entire complex with the Sadovaya Street ensemble. Since Catherine Canal Embankment at that time was not worthy of note, Quarenghi constructed there a blank stone wall and surrounded it on the three sides by the lot, adjacent to the household and ancillary buildings. This semi-detached layout of the important government building reflected the traditional concept of the city as a conglomeration of separate buildings.
Bank Bridge
The Bank Bridge over the Griboyedov Canal connects Kazansky and Spassky Islands in the central area of St. Petersburg. The bridge was named after the Assignation Bank next to it.
Campus
The campus being urban, the buildings of St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance are scattered around the city. There are three dormitories (halls of residence) owned by the university in several areas.
One is situated at Park Pobedy metro station, so it takes about 30–40 minutes to get to university from there. Students pay 55 rubles as a monthly rent but the rate is not fixed and since this year it has become rather high. The students, who do not pay tuition fee, have to pay 2400 rubles per month except for orphans and disabled people who have state benefits and those who have contract with government departments.
The rooms are intended for three, sometimes two or four people of the same gender. The bathrooms and restrooms are situated at the end of the corridors. Kitchens are meant to be for everybody too. There are a few electric stoves and sinks, so that anybody can use them for cooking. Students are not supposed to have microwaves and electric kettles in the rooms as precautionary measures.
Another university dorm is located at Ladozhskaya metro station. The facilities in that dormitory are much better, as it was designed for exchange and foreign students, although nowadays the Russian students who are paying for their education at the university can also live there.
Then there is a dormitory right in the university yard. However, it is being rebuilt now for the use as auditoria.
in 2015 they open a branch in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Saint Petersburg State Economic University (Dubai branch) is located in Armada Tower at Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT), Cluster P.
Student life
Students’ Council
The Students’ Council of St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance is the supreme body of the students’ self-government system, which is independent work of students inside scientific and pastime spheres:
- It is elected by students - It deals with students’ problems - It runs the work of other students’ organizations
April Students’ Scientific Research Conference
The University holds Students’ Scientific Research Conference every year discussing the most urgent problems of modern time.
Chronology
| Year | Conference | Participants |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Students’ Scientific Research Conference on research findings of 1990 | 137 |
| 1992 | Students’ Scientific Research Conference on research findings of 1991 | 200 |
| 1993 | Students’ Scientific Research Conference on research findings of 1992
The 1992 Open Contest Award for the Best Student Research Paper in Natural Sciences, Technology and Humanities among higher institutions of the RF |
307 |
| 1994 | Students’ Scientific Research Conference on research findings of 1993
The 1993 Open Contest Award for the Best Student Research Paper in Natural Sciences, Technology and Humanities among higher institutions of the RF |
410 |
| 1995 | Economic Revival of Russia | 600 |
| 1996 | Russia’s Integration into Global Economic Connections: current situation and problems | 807 |
| 1997 | Social and Economic Development of Russia’s productive forces at the turn of the 21st century, devoted to the 70th anniversary of Yu. A. Lavrikov, an Honoured Scholar of the RF | 934 |
| 1998 | Russia and CIS: the experience of economic reforms | 1190 |
| 1999 | From crisis to the development of the economy and society as a whole | 1300 |
| 2000 | Social and Economic Development of Russia at the turn of the 21st century | 1438 |
| 2001 | Reforms in the Russian Economy in the third millennium: problems and prospects | 1452 |
| 2002 | Interrelation of Global and National Social and Economic Processes, devoted to the 300th Anniversary of St Petersburg | 1123 |
| 2003 | Social and Economic Transformations in Russia: Reforms, Results and Prospects, devoted to the 300th Anniversary of St Petersburg | 1201 |
| 2004 | Social and Economic Reforms and Transformations of Russian Society in the Globalising World | 1369 |
| 2005 | Economy Based on Knowledge is Russia’s Future, devoted to the 75th Anniversary of St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance | 1900 |
| 2006 | Russian Society and Economy: contemporary situation and prospects | 1565 |
| 2007 | Russian Economy Development: Innovative Future, devoted to the 80th anniversary of Yu. A. Lavrikov, an Honoured Scholar of the RF | 1628 |
| 2008 | Modernization of Russian Economy and Society within the Framework of National State and Social Reforms | 1675 |
| 2009 | Social and Economic Challenge of Russia and Problems of Solving Global Finance Crisis | 2050 |
| 2010 | Russian Economy Post-Crisis Development and Modernization (commemorating the 80th anniversary of St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance) | over 2000 |
Scientific Research Paper Contest
Every year the Scientific Research Paper Contest is held at University.
Students’ Club
The Students’ Club of St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance is more than 30 years old.
Brain Ring Club of St Petersburg University of Economics and Finance
The club comprising students and alumni aims at developing intellectual games movement at university.
Student Initiative fund
Saint Petersburg fund encouraging initiative was established in 1997 to facilitate realization of youth policy in education, science and business.
AIESEC office
AIESEC unites 23,000 students from 100 countries of the world and collaborates with 3,500 organizations.
Notable people
Vladimir Alhimov
Vladimir Alhimov was the Head of the State Bank of the USSR.
Yuri Boldyrev
Yuri Boldyrev (born on 29 May 1960) is a Russian statesman and publicist. In 1983 he graduated from Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University (LETI) and then in 1989 from Leningrad Institute of Finance and Economics (LFEI). From 1989 to 1991 he was the People's Deputy of the USSR Supreme Sovyet. He was a member of the Superior Consultative Assembly under the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia from 1991 to 1992.
From 1992 to 1993 Yuri Boldyrev was a government comptroller of RSFSR and later he took an office of the Head of Control Department of Russian Presidential Administration. Yuriy Boldyrev represented Saint-Petersburg in the Federation Council of Russia and between 1995 and 2001 was the vice-chairman of the Audit Chamber of the Russian Federation. He headed the electoral alliance Yabloko together with Grigory Yavlinskiy and Vladimir Lukin in 1993. In 1999-2001 Yuriy Boldyrev was a member of the Soviet alliance of oil and gas equipment producers. He is also the author of such books as ‘On barrels of honey and drops of vinegar’ and ‘A theft of Eurasia’, in which he is talking about matters of record of the corruption in the supreme bodies of state power.
In 2007 Boldyrev returned to the politics and headed the top three deputy candidates to the State Duma of Saint-Petersburg from the party Fair Russia.
His works are:
- Russian miracle — the secrets of economical backwardness or how to go to nowhere, removing obstacles successfully. The second book The Kidnapping of Eurasia
- Russian miracle — the secrets of economical backwardness or how to go to nowhere, removing obstacles successfully. The first book On Barrels of Honey and Drops of Vinegar
Iren Eliseeva
Iren Ilyinichna Eliseeva is an economist, PhD in economic science (1974), associate professor of economic science (1984), correspondent member of the Russian Academy of Science (1994), Honoured Scholar of the RF (1999), Director of Sociological University of RAS.
She was a student and later became a professor in St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. Since 1990 Irina Eliseeva has been the Head of the Department of Statistics and Econometrics. In 2005 Irina Eliseeva initiated the Russian Research journal ‘Finance and Business’.
Svetlana Medvedeva
Svetlana Vladimirovna Medvedeva was born in Krondshtadt. She graduated from Leningrad University of Economics and Finance.
Now she is the Chair of the Board of Guardians ‘Spiritual and Moral Culture of Rising Generation of Russia’.
Aleksey Miller
Aleksey Borisovish Miller is a Russian businessman, Chairman of Gazprom Administration Board, Vice-Chairman of Gazprom Board of directors, PhD in Economics.
He graduated from Leningrad State Institute of Economics and Finance named after N. A. Voznesensky in 1984.
Andrey Illarionov
Andrey Illarionov is a former adviser of the President of Russia and he got ass cancer due to inability to solve economic problems in his house, unknown sources speculate that the KGB was involved by placing radio active material in his personal seat at his house.
Alfred Koch
Alfred Koch was the president of Riga
Mikhail Manevich
Michael Vladislavovich Manevich (born on 18 February 1961, died on 18 August 1997) was a vice-governor of St. Petersburg.
In 1983 he graduated from Voznesensky Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute. His master's thesis was about the management in social and economic systems. He was the chairman of the Urban Property Committee of St. Petersburg and a board member of the State Property Committee of the Russian Federation.
In 1996 he became the vice-governor of St. Petersburg. He was one of authors of the current legislation on privatization and participated in the development of government programs of privatisation and housing and municipal reform. On August, 18th, 1997 he was seriously injured and died in hospital.
Tigran Sargsyan
Tigran Sargsyan is a Prime Minister of Armenia.
Tigran Sargsyan (born January 29, 1960) has been the Prime Minister of Armenia since 9 April 2008. He is not related to the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. Tigran Sargsyan was born in Kirovakan, Armenian SSR (present-day Vanadzor, Armenia). From 1980 to 1983, he attended Leningrad Voznesensky Finance and Economics Institute. In 1987 his postgraduate education ended in obtaining a PhD degree.
From 1987 to 1990 he worked as the Chief of Department for Foreign Economic Relations of Scientific Researches Institute of Economic Planning in Armenia. From 1988 to 1993 he worked at the post of the Chairman of republican Council of Young Specialists and Scientists. From 1990 to 1995 he was a member of Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia and the Chair of Standing Commission for Financial, Credit and Budget Affairs. From 1995 to 1998 he was the Director of Scientific Research Institute of Social Reforms.
From 1995 to 1998 he was the Chairman of the Armenian Bank Association. Sargsyan occupied the post of the Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) in 1998 and was re-elected by the Armenian National Assembly as the CBA Chairman for a second seven-year term on 2 March 2005. As many as 92 MPs participated in the vote, of which 86 cast their vote for his candidacy. On 9 April 2008 he was appointed as the Prime Minister of Armenia by President Serzh Sargsyan upon the latter's inauguration.
Shamil' Valitov
Shamil' Mahmutovich Valitov (born on 21 December 1955) is the head of Kazan State Finance and Economics Institute. He graduated from Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute in 1976. Since 1984 after his postgraduate study in LFEI he has been working in Kazan Finance and Economics Institute from junior researcher to professor. In 2000 he became research vice-rector and since 2000 he is the head of KSFEI. His research findings are being used by such companies as SNEMA, Khimprom, Nizhnekamskneftekhim and many others. He participated in developing the energy saving conception and program in Kazan in 2001.
He was elected a member of the Academy of Labor and Employment in 1999, a member of the Academy of Humanities in 2001, a member of the Tatarstan Republic Academy of Informatization in 2003 and a member of the International Telecommunication Academy in 2005. Shamil Mahmutovich is also a member of different government commissions. In 2000 he was awarded the honorary title of the Honoured Economist of the Tatarstan Republic and the Honoured Scientist of the Tatarstan Republic in 2005.
Oksana Dmitrieva
Oksana Genrihovna Dmitrieva (born on 3 April 1958) is a Russian economist and politician. She graduated from the faculty of economic cybernetics of Voznesensky Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute in 1980. She is an expert in the regional economy. In 1998-1999 she became the professor of St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. She obtained the degree of the Doctor of Sciences in Economics in 1992. She is the author of three monographies and more than sixty scientific works.
Oksana Dmitrieva is the deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
Boris Pryankov
Boris Vasilyevich Pryankov (born on 5 February 1940 — died on 31 December 2006), an alumnus of Voznesensky Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute was the Doctor of Economics, the professor, the Honorary Worker of Higher Vocational Training of the Russian Federation. He worked at the Department of Enterprise Economy and Industrial Management for more than 35 years as a teacher and professor. In 1983 Boris Vasilevich Pryankov obtained a degree in Economics. He did research in quality assurance, crisis management, industrial and investment management and published more than 100 scientific works.
Inna Drouz
Inna Drouz (born on 24 June 1979) is a player of the Russian TV Show ‘What? Where? When?’ and daughter of a famous player Alexander Drouz. She graduated from St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance, Pierre Mendes-France University in Grenoble and Paris Dauphine University. She worked as a leading adviser of the corporate finance department at the Industrial Building Bank, then as an associate professor of the Finance Department in St. Petersburg State University of Economy and Finance.
Dmitry Makarov
Dmitry Alekseevich Makarov is a Russian footballer. He started his career in St Petersburg Zenit 2 in West Zone second division. Between 2002 and 2004 he played as a forward in the main team. Since 2008 he has headed the teenager team Zenit.
Timur Batrutdinov
Timur Tahirovich Batrutdinov is a Russian comedian and television anchorman, a resident of the ‘Comedy club’. He graduated from St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance in 2000. Timur Batrutdinov was born on February 11, 1978 in the Tatar family in the village of Voronovo near Moscow. Despite his love to literature and KVN, Timur Batrutdinov became a student of the Department of Human Resources Management at St Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. As a student, he played KVN and wrote scenarios for the city team. Now besides Comedy Club he is the host of some TV programs and projects. His filmography: serials Sasha+Masha (2004) and The Club (2005–2007).
External links
References
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