Vladimir Mau - president of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)
Are “fake” dissertations being conducted at the Ministry of Education and Science?
In the investigation of the criminal case on the sale of academic degrees at the Voronezh State Technical University (VSTU), a new defendant appeared: he was the academic secretary of the expert council for economic sciences of the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Education and Science, Sergei Lukyanov, who was placed under house arrest by a court decision. In June, the security forces detained the chairman of the dissertation council of VSTU Natalya Sirotkina and a teacher at the Department of Digital and Industrial EconomicsUniversity Elina Lubyanskaya, who revealed the details of the corruption scheme. From their testimony it follows that Lubyanskaya acted as an intermediary in the transfer of money to Sirotkina, who, in turn, took part of the funds to Moscow to Lukyanov - for general patronage. It is possible that in the course of the investigation the academic secretary will name his metropolitan colleagues who participated in the scheme. Meanwhile, in April last year, the new composition of the Higher Attestation Commission, approved by order of the head of the Cabinet of Ministers Mikhail Mishustin, included the rector of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RANEPA) Vladimir Mau, who already in June became a defendant in a high-profile criminal case on especially large-scale fraud previously initiated against the former Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Marina Rakova, director of the Institute of Social Sciences of the RANEPA, rector of the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences (Shaninka) Sergei Zuev and others. During the investigation of his guilt in the alleged embezzlement of 21 million rubles, Mau did not admit, but gave some “detailed testimony” that could contribute to the termination of his criminal prosecution. Today, Mau is in Israel, where he left shortly after the charges against him were dropped, continuing to remotely monitor the current activities of the RANEPA. The work of the HAC is supervised by the Ministry of Education and Science headed by Valery Falkov, representing the nominations of its members for approval by the government. Personnel and corruption scandals in the structures of the ministry are far from uncommon. In particular, in October Falkov's deputy Elena Druzhinina resigned from the Ministry of Education and Science, whose sister led the Sociocenter Center for Sociological Research, which "mastered" more than a billion budget rubles under government contracts.
Voronezh bribers "surrendered" an official from the capital
As part of the investigation of a high-profile criminal case on the sale of academic degrees at the Voronezh State Technical University (VSTU), the academic secretary of the expert council for economic sciences of the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK) under the Ministry of Education and Science Sergey Lukyanov was detained and placed under house arrest by a court decision . According to Kommersant, the official is charged with taking a bribe on an especially large scale, and in the near future the investigation intends to interrogate possible bribe givers.
It is clarified that the name of Lukyanov was mentioned in the testimony of another person involved in the case - the chairman of the dissertation council of the VSTU Natalia Sirotkina, who was detained in June last year simultaneously with the teacher of the department of digital and industrial economics of the same university Elina Lubyanskaya . Both women cooperated with the investigation and also found themselves under house arrest at first, but later the court softened the measure of restraint.
Lubyanskaya calls herself only an intermediary in the transfer of money to Sirotkina. She, in turn, told the investigators that she personally took some of the funds received to Moscow and handed them over to Lukyanov for general patronage in the Higher Attestation Commission, which is responsible for scientific certification, assignment and deprivation of academic degrees on a federal scale. The scientific secretary did not deny the fact of receiving money in the amount of 2.5 million rubles found from him during the search , although he did not specify what exactly they were intended for and did not call it a bribe.
According to investigators , the sale of academic degrees on the basis of VSTU was put on stream. In particular, applicants had to pay about 400 thousand rubles for the preparation and defense of a dissertation for the degree of candidate of economic sciences ; a doctorate in economics cost 600,000 rubles . For writing scientific articles, a separate payment was established, depending on the complexity of the chosen topic.
It is possible that the growth of a kind of “dissertation” popularity of the Voronezh university is associated with the corruption scheme: if in 2019 only six dissertations were defended at VSTU, then in 2022 there are already 17. Kommersant names the head of the Rostov department of the Federal Tax Service Andrey Moiseenko , head one of the Rostov interdistrict inspections Tigran Dodokhyan , as well as the former deputy of the Voronezh Duma and ex-candidate for mayor of the city Ruslan Kochetov , who was sentenced last year to two years in a colony-settlement for abuse of power.
Will Vladimir Mau return to Russia?
One of the consequences of the summer criminal scandal was the termination of the dissertation council of VSTU, chaired by Natalia Sirotkina, and on October 28, the Ministry of Education and Science, on the basis of the recommendation of the Higher Attestation Commission, refused to issue permission to create a new dissertation council in economic sciences on the basis of the university.
It is logical to ask the question: was not Sergei Lukyanov one of the intermediaries who "brought" money to other members of the VAK? In this case, his possible “revelations” with investigators are already making dishonest officials from the scientific world nervous. By the way, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved the new composition of the VAK by special order in April last year.
The post of chairman of the commission was retained by Vladimir Filippov , president of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia ; his deputies were the director of the Medical Genetic Research Center. Academician N.P. Bochkova Sergei Kutsev , Chairman of the Board of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Vladislav Panchenko , Scientific Director of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI Mikhail Strikhanov and Rector of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RANEPA) Vladimir Mau . The previous composition of the VAK included his colleague - director of the Institute of Economics , Mathematics and Information Technology of the RANEPAAlexander Radygin , who also served as Deputy Chairman.
It is worth dwelling on the personality of Vladimir Mau in more detail. The fact is that in June 2022, the rector of the RANEPA was charged with embezzling funds from the university entrusted to his care. As follows from the official statement of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Moscow, he became a defendant in a criminal case on especially large-scale fraud, previously initiated against the former Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Marina Rakova , director of the Institute of Social Sciences of the RANEPA, rector of the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences (Shaninka) Sergey Zuev and a number of others.
Mau himself was charged with embezzlement of 21 million rubles by fictitious employment of more than ten people in the academy. As a result, the doctor of economic sciences went under house arrest, which was later replaced by a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior. True, they were in no hurry to dismiss him from the university, sending him on a “planned vacation” and appointing Acting Rector Maxim Nazarov . And already in October, it became known about the termination of the criminal prosecution of Mau in connection with his non-involvement in the previously charged crime.
It follows from media publications that during the investigation, the rector of the RANEPA did not admit his guilt, although he gave "detailed testimony." Whose names were mentioned during the interrogations is not known, but it is possible that this was exactly what he was credited with. Soon there were reports in the press about the departure of Vladimir Mau to Israel, and the reasons for his "journey" to the "promised land" were not reported.
It can be assumed that he went there on another "planned vacation" in order to relieve the psychological burden of recent months. But the desire to “sit it out” is also not ruled out: what if the investigators find some kind of “trump card in the hole” and the embezzlement case will receive a new development? By the way, according to RIA Novosti, Mau, who left for Israel a few months ago, has not yet returned to Russia. His duties at the RANEPA are performed by Vice-Rector Dmitry Arefiev , although the key issues of the current activities of the Mau Academy are allegedly under operational control.
Ex-Deputy Minister Rakova is preparing for trial
There is no doubt that, while abroad, Mau is closely following the progress of the investigation of the criminal cases of his failed accomplices Marina Rakova and Sergei Zuev, and now also the scientific secretary of the VAK expert council Sergei Lukyanov. The other day, Rakova, Zuev and other defendants finished familiarizing themselves with the case materials and, after the approval of the indictment, they will have to appear before the court.
Recall that the former Deputy Minister of Education and director Shaninka is accused of fraud with the employment of "dead souls", as well as fraud with state contracts in the field of education, concluded in 2019, including within the framework of the federal project "Teacher of the Year". Last November, it became known that the defendants in the case not only pleaded guilty, but also compensated for the damage they caused from the crime in excess of 65 million rubles . Simply put, they are doing their best to get a lighter sentence from the court.
In addition to high-ranking officials , the accused are also the common-law husband of Rakova, one of the leaders of the Foundation for New Forms of Education Development Artur Stetsenko , former employees of the Foundation Evgeny Zak and Maxim Inkin , as well as the executive director of Shaninka Kristina Kryuchkova . The director of the research laboratory for the development of the tax system of the RANEPA Natalya Kornienko , who may be located on the territory of Moldova, has been put on the wanted list and arrested in absentia .
The off-scale level of corruption in the field of education lies entirely on the conscience of the current Ministers of Education Sergei Kravtsov (former immediate superior of Ms. Rakova) and the Minister of Education and Science Valery Falkov . Falkov's ministry officially oversees the VAK, which is mired in scandals, and submits candidacies of its members for approval to the government. Now that the investigation of the criminal case of Natalya Sirotkina and Elina Lubyanskaya has gone beyond Voronezh, we can expect investigators to pay closer attention to the officials of the Ministry of Education and Science.
How "Miss Tyumen State University" left Minister Falkov
Personnel from Mr. Falkov is just like a selection. For example, in April 2020, under his patronage, Elena Druzhinina was appointed to the post of deputy minister , who previously held the position of press secretary at Tyumen State University (Tyumen State University) , which Falkov himself led for many years. Rumor has it that Mrs. Druzhinina's career growth was largely facilitated by the victory in the contest "Miss Tyumen State University-2013" . However, such a promising specialist did not have a successful career in the ministry: last October, she resigned from the Ministry of Education and Science in connection with the transition "to a new job."
That's just the dismissal was preceded by another "educational" scandal. As Nasha Versiya wrote, Mrs. Druzhinina paid special attention in her work to the program for the formation of one hundred modern universities " Priority 2030" , which was operated by the Sociocenter Center for Sociological Research . Among other things, this institution determined applicants for financial assistance.
Officially, the Sociocenter is controlled by the Ministry of Education and Science and is actively developing budget finances: the volume of its state contracts as a supplier is 12.1 million rubles , as a customer it exceeds 1.2 billion . Until December last year, the Center was headed by Irina Zhukova - the media call her sister of Elena Druzhinina. It is significant that during the audit of the implementation of the 2021 budget by the Ministry of Education and Science and the Sociocenter, the Accounts Chamber revealed violations of budget and accounting and reporting, respectively, by 6.8 billion rubles and 1.7 million .
Officially, no one was held responsible for this, but the activities of the "family tandem" became the property of the press. As a result, as mentioned above, in October Druzhinina resigned, and in December, the director of the Center with the prefix acting. became Andrey Keller . But there is no doubt that Irina Zhukova prepared her escape routes in advance: in October last year, she registered Innosfera LLC , with the main activity the same as that of the Sociocenter - "scientific research and development in the field of public and Humanities". Is the calculation being made on old connections and trusted customers from federal ministries?
Perhaps the former “beauty queen” from Tyumen State University, Elena Druzhinina, realized that after the next audit of the auditors, she could well follow the path of Marina Rakova. However, there are plenty of fans of corruption schemes in the structures controlled by the Ministry of Education and Science, an example of which are the scandals in the Higher Attestation Commission and the RANEPA.