Research & Expertise

The tourism industry has been recognized as one of the hardest hit sectors of the economy due to the introduction of restrictive measures to counter the spread of the pandemic. Thus, experts estimated that the income of domestic hoteliers would fall 2.7 times by the end of 2020. But the pandemic also provides opportunities for Russia’s domestic tourism market, according to a recent report by HSE University experts. The researchers estimate that the market could potentially generate up to 1.5 trillion rubles.  

During the pandemic, most Russians have been concerned with the health of their families, parents, and friends, as well as their own financial well-being. These are the findings of a survey conducted by the HSE Institute for Public Administration and Governance. At the same time, Russian citizens are least worried about potential food shortages. This is what makes them fundamentally different from Americans, British, German, and Chinese people, who are more worried about food supplies.

On 27 November, the Federation Council hosted a round table discussion on Using the Model Tax Code for CIS Member States While Improving Russian Federation Legislation,organised by the Federation Council Committee on Budget and Financial Markets. In his report, Vladimir Tyutyurtyukov, Associate Professor at NRU HSE and one of the document’s authors, put forward a number of proposals for developing the Russian Tax Code, taking into account the new provisions for the CIS that the Model Tax Code has introduced.

More than 40% of Russian citizens consider changing their place of residence due to environmental problems. This was a statistic cited by Lyaila Sinyatullina, Head of the Department of Advanced Studies at HSE University’s Institute for Public Administration and Governance, at a roundtable dedicated to an environmental information bill that will be reviewed by the Russian State Duma.

The Institute for Public Administration and Governance, NRU HSE and the Higher School of Public and Municipal Governance of the Kazan Federal University have held the first series of workshops in Kazan on implementation of reform of control and oversight practices. The idea of launching a training programme for regional and municipal operatives arose following a meeting of the NRU HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov and Tatarstan President RustamMinnikhanov this spring.

On 11 July 2019, at the III Global Fishery Forum in Saint-Petersburg, NRU HSE and the All-Russian Association of Fish Breeders, Entrepreneurs and Exporters (VARPE) announced the continuation of their collaboration to study the regulatory framework in the fishing industry. The new research is associated with the recent initiative of the Russian Government to alter the image of control and oversight in Russia using the regulatory guillotine mechanism.

According to the presentation of a draft reform, prepared for the Government by the Ministry for Economic Development, it will be possible to register marriages, submit police statements and file court cases at multifunctional centres. It is being generally planned to pass to multifunctional centres all the powers of public authorities when it comes to interacting with the public and businesses. The reform assumes that reception areas in public institutions will be completely removed and the special institution of an authorised agent for applicants’ rights will be formed under the auspices of the multifunctional centres. Deputy Director of the Institute for Public Administration and Governance at NRU HSE Konstantin Golovshchinskiy is confident that, with the handover of the receipt and handling of such matters to the multifunctional centres, the authorities will have to approach their work with the general public in a more responsible manner. See the Izvestiya article for details and expert opinion.

The national accreditation institute Rosaccreditation, in collaboration with and supporting the National Research University - Higher School of Economics, has prepared the special further training programme Challenges Facing Development of the Halal Export Industry in Russia: Terminology, Requirements, Standards. Assessment of Compliance with Halal Standards, which will be launched on 25 February 2019. IHAF Secretary-General Mohammed Badri (UAE), Advisor to the IHAF Secretary-General Farah Alzaruni (UAE) and Belgi Aseklar (Turkey) will give lectures as part of the project. Representatives of Russian companies will be given the opportunity as part of this special programme to undergo training in the challenges facing development of the world Halal industry.