Almost built

Dmitry Medvedev visited the first Russian business school

Many distinguished guests, including the President of Russia, arrived at the first ceremony for presenting student cards to students of the first Russian business school Skolkovo. Dmitry Medvedev has headed the board of trustees of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo ever since, as First Deputy Prime Minister, he decided to create two business schools in Russia as part of the national project “Education”. It was assumed that there would be two business schools, in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But the capital is luckier, since the Skolkovo complex is being built with money from private investors, while the St. Petersburg school is financed from the budget, and the crisis has greatly slowed down its construction. “Our business has shown that it is capable of implementing not only business projects, but also large educational projects, and from scratch,” Mr. Medvedev said yesterday.

However, the crisis made adjustments to the plans of the first business school. The school building, which is an interpretation of the paintings of Kazimir Malevich by the young British architect David Adjaye, was not completed in time for the special day. Therefore, at the solemn ceremony, people always came across people in suits stained with whitewash. The building will be completed only by the summer of next year, but for now the students live and study at the Balchug Hotel. “When three years ago we made the decision to build a school in an open field, we could not believe that this wonderful building would be built,” said the president. “Almost built,” he added to the laughter of those gathered.

The organizers of the festival played on this theme with humor, dressing the orchestra in construction uniforms and helmets. In general, they showed such an abyss of invention that all the shortcomings were simply lost. When Dmitry Medvedev gave the command to raise the school flag, a hot air balloon, painted in school colors, first took off into the air, followed by thousands of children's balloons. “I have never seen such a flag raised,” Mr. Medvedev admired, “raise it like this every morning.”

All members of the board of trustees highly appreciate the prospects of Russian business education, despite the cost of training at 50 thousand euros and the still unformed traditions. “The competition was two people per place, which means it is in demand,” Vladimir Mau, deputy chairman of the school’s board of trustees and rector of the Academy of National Economy, told Vremya Novostei.

“I will definitely teach here. And not just me, all members of the board of trustees,” German Gref, a member of the board of trustees and president of Sberbank, told Vremya Novostey. In addition, graduates of the Skolkovo school will have the opportunity to study emerging markets directly in their respective countries, as well as receive start-up capital to create their own business using funds from the school’s existing venture fund.

Dmitry Medvedev did not leave the meeting empty-handed. The president of the school, chairman of the board of directors of Troika Dialog Ruben Vardanyan presented him with an apple - a symbol of knowledge and the school’s trademark, and a member of the board of trustees, director of the Institute for the Economy in Transition, Yegor Gaidar - his own book. Dmitry Medvedev promised to start reading it tomorrow on the plane on the way to Switzerland. In addition, Mr. Medvedev managed to exchange a few words with the Chairman of the Chukotka Duma, Roman Abramovich - although their meeting did not include gifts.

Vera SITNINA