Translated material
Persecuted University
Chairs and bookshelves are being taken out from the Kushelev-Bezborodko Palace on Gagarinskaya. Boxes of books are lowered from the library window into the courtyard on a winch.
Students and teachers have been posting photos of empty halls on Instagram since July. The European University is moving: Smolny is going to terminate the lease agreement. There will be no classes in September because the educational institution is forced to surrender its old license and is still applying for a new one.
Last year for the European University was full of inspections and litigation: after a letter from initiative citizens led by deputy Milonov ( see the article “Milonovskys against Putinskys” in Novaya dated January 26, 2017 ), in July–September 2016 the university was subject to inspections from outside 11 different departments. Rosobrnadzor, which essentially had no complaints about the quality of education, suspended and tried to revoke the license for educational activities, and first of all introduced a ban on admitting new students.
It seemed that one of the best educational institutions not only in the city, but also in the country had strong defenders: on the instructions of the President, Olga Golodets held a special meeting of the government, where they talked about how to do so without interrupting the educational process. All this time, the university was kept on the hook, not closed, but not allowed to work normally: the academic year was completed because the court hearings were postponed one after another.
In August, university management decided to surrender the old license, which was subject to a ban on admitting new students. The repressive machine does not go back: from Rosobrnadzor, the solution to the issue migrated to the courts, and it became obvious that surrendering a license and getting a new one is the fastest way to admit new students and continue classes. After all, it may be possible to win in court against Rosobrnadzor, but only purely hypothetically.
Documents for a new license have already been submitted, and a new address has already been indicated as the location. The old license was tied to a mansion on Gagarinskaya Street. But the beautiful Small Marble Palace is not suitable for studies. An architectural competition was held for a building renovation project, aimed at both restoring historical interiors and creating new ones. The winner was the project of the Frenchman Jean-Michel Wilmotte, who, while treating the monument with care, destroyed the Soviet replica and gave life to modern spaces where young people can be taught.
Today, the reconstruction of the palace is in doubt. Although Alexey Kudrin and Mikhail Piotrovsky wrote to the president about the problems of the European University, and in their resolutions Vladimir Putin asked to support the renovation, the city authorities chose to drive the inconvenient university out of the house, cynically hiding behind the interests of children: it was announced that the building would be a center for children's creativity.
By the way
The idea to give the palace to children belongs to the “Olga trolls.” It was first publicly expressed in December 2016 by an anonymous person with the nickname Papazol in a comment to the publication fontanka . ru : “It would be better if they opened a children’s art house there.” It turns out that since the trolls found out about this before anyone else, the campaigns against EU were coordinated at various levels. But these are already speculations from the field of conspiracy theories.
...In 2015, a clause was added to the next lease agreement, the importance of which was underestimated at the university: in case of violation of security obligations, the city can terminate the agreement. At this time, intensive work was already underway to prepare for renovation together with the state inspection for the protection of monuments, and it never occurred to anyone that the point with such an ambiguous interpretation did not appear by chance.
But the authors of the intrigue had their own plan. The features of the building that turned out to be a violation of security obligations were well known to the inspectors - they were planned to be eliminated during the renovation process. These were three plastic windows facing the courtyard, and an extension installed in the 70s by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health for the storage of toxic reagents.
In a sense, the university was lucky - the bailiffs had not yet come to evict the teachers and scientists. Therefore, the move takes place in a calm and not emergency mode. The court's decision will still be challenged in the cassation court, so the illusory hope of carrying out the renovation project and returning to these halls remains.
Waiting for a license keeps the training institute in limbo. In principle, Rosobrnadzor, which issues licenses, promised to do everything without delay. But there is little hope for this: the new building where the university is moving will have to undergo a meticulous inspection by an on-site inspector and check for compliance with all requirements. As soon as the license is available, the university will announce enrollment of students. Teachers are trying not to lose optimism: it is possible to engage in research without an educational license: the European University remains a platform for open public lectures and announces an autumn scientific marathon.
Ilya SUDAKOV