A Letter To Putin
Oversee the valley from the government, MSU will be the first Vice-Premier Igor Shuvalov, told two sources close to University administration. According to Shuvalov, this will be part of the Board of Trustees of the University, which is headed by President Vladimir Putin.
MSU rector Viktor Sadovnichy confirmed that in mid-April, he wrote a letter to Putin with a proposal to enter into Council of Shuvalov, and the request was granted. It confirms a source close to the presidential administration: “Victor Antonovich insisted on Shuvalov, Mr Putin made an exception”. The exception, he said, is that the Board are invited to attend MSU, for the most part, not government employees, businessmen and heads of large companies.
“Igor Ivanovich — our graduate [first Deputy Prime Minister graduated from the law faculty of Moscow state University], often at the University and knows him well” — says Sadovnichy. For MSU Shuvalov “is very important,” confirms a source close to administration of the Kremlin: he had always expressed a desire to participate in the development of the University, and this wish was eventually granted.
BUMPING: What is the Board of Trustees MSU
The Board of Trustees of Moscow state University was established in 2013. In addition to the President, it includes another 30 people. Business present President of “Rosneft” Igor Sechin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of alpha Bank Peter Aven, the President of “RussNeft” Mikhail Gutseriev, the President of the UC Rusal Oleg Deripaska, the head of VTB Andrey Kostin, the General Director of “Rostec” Sergey Chemezov, Chairman of the Board “Gazprom” Alexey Miller and others. The Board also includes presidential aide Andrei Fursenko, mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin, Chairman of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina, the General Director of VGTRK Oleg Dobrodeyev, etc.
The Board of Trustees meets annually. According to the regulations of the Board, he is “a form of self-government and operates on the basis of transparency and voluntariness”, created for the development of the University and strengthen the high status of the Russian education system”. Its composition is approved by the rector, the Council is spearheaded by its Chairman. The tasks of the Council include raising funds from extrabudgetary sources, the formation of target capital in the framework of the development Fund of Moscow state University, strengthening the material-technical base of the University.
THE END OF INCISION
The case for Shuvalov
In a letter to Putin Sadovnichiy wrote that Shuvalov’s participation in the work of the Board of Trustees is necessary for the development of complex projects, educational component, and including school for gifted children,” says a source close to the presidential administration. The very fact of membership in the trusteeship Council did not mean that his party automatically becomes the curator of a direction of development of the University, says the source. But Putin, as Chairman of the Board, may delegate any of its special member functions. “What the Council will charge Shuvalov, I don’t know,” says Sadovnichy. — But he will definitely be interested in the work of the boarding school, which will open by September”.
Boarding school for gifted children (with an area of 28.5 thousand square meters) is built in the new territories of Moscow state University. The construction of the school buildings and dormitories for the University worth more than 6 billion rubles. is a company “Inteko” (part of the group of BIN Mikhail Gutseriev and his partners). It is planned that the boarding school will be part of a large-scale project on the construction of the University Scientific and technological valley.
MSU leads the development of the concept of the valley with 2013. Sadovnichy previously estimated the project cost at RUB 110 billion ($1.6 billion at the current exchange rate) and said that “within the classical University in Russia, this project will be implemented for the first time.
In developing the concept of participating Fund “Inpractice”, which is headed by Katerina Tikhonova (according to sources of Reuters and Bloomberg, she has a younger daughter of Vladimir Putin). “Inpractice” “fully immersed in the subject and continues to address issues of scientific filling valleys, claim the source in the University.
At the last Board of Trustees the question of the development of scientific and technological valley was one of the main agenda. The Board’s next meeting, likely to take place in late summer, says Sadovnichy.
The conflict over land
This year on the draft valley sparked the conflict. In early March, the economic development Ministry has submitted for public discussion the draft law “On technological valley” (the MSU project was only mentioned in the explanatory note to this document, and he compiled the standard way and as intended, should apply to all scientific and technological projects at higher educational institutions in Russia). The order to develop this document the Ministry has received from the Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. The MSU administration offers officials were not satisfied. The main public complaint MSU was tied to the fact that the bill was developed without the participation of specialists of the University.
Law Ministry, in particular, envisages the establishment of 100% state management company, which will be responsible for the implementation of the project of the valley (ranging from building site to choosing research directions). The same company, the Ministry of economic development, you should pass about 100 hectares of land on which it is expected the construction of the valley. A source in Minekonomrazvitia told that the land will be contributed as a capital contribution to the new management company. Now this land is rented long term at the University, and the MSU administration has strongly opposed its withdrawal, and told the interlocutors close to the University and the presidential administration.
The bill is being finalized, the process of public discussion, after which the draft will be submitted to the government, said the representative of the Ministry of economic development. A source close to the Kremlin administration, said that this is unlikely to happen before the elections to the state Duma.
Sadovnichy relations with Shuvalov is better than with Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who now oversees the project of the valley, says a source close to the University rectorate. Shuvalov favours public-private partnership and, most likely, will not insist on the withdrawal of land from the University, says another interviewee. They also argued that Shuvalov had no objection to continue participation in the project “Inteko”. In 2005-2012 the company was already a co-investor of construction in the Moscow state University Fundamental library, as well as two academic buildings. “Inteko” also erected on the campus of the University has two residential complex “Shuvalovsky” and Dominion (407 and 412 thousand sq. m of total area, respectively): due to the sale of housing in Moscow state University they could Fund the construction of scientific objects, described earlier].
The representative “Inteko” have refused comments.
With the participation of Yana Milyukova, Anna deryabinoy
