Published on: 2026-05-18
Source: Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University of Peter the Great –
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The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Saint Petersburg Peter the Great Polytechnic University held a strategic session “Development of Target Capitals in Science and Higher Education: Horizon 2036.” The event is taking place at the Polytechnic alreadySecond year.
The strategy session was attended by over 300 participants, including university and research organization staff who oversee the work of endowment funds, government officials, alumni association members, and patrons. The plenary session was opened by the rector of Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University Peter the Great, Andrey Rudskoy: It is a great honor for us to host the venue for this forum. We will strive to ensure that the forum is held at the appropriate level and, most importantly, that it is useful. Endowment funds play an important role in the global economy, and especially, of course, in the field of science and education.Basically, these are the drivers that create a financial basis for encouraging development, for stable, long-term, sustainable support of startups, youth scientific groups, student and university initiatives as a whole. The role of target capital is hard to overestimate. I want to wish you that within a few years endowment funds become a powerful, independent, and prosperous direction that will truly have a significant impact on the development not only of education and science at universities, but also on interdisciplinary interuniversity connections, as well as ties with academic science.
With a welcoming word to the participants of the video conference session, the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Andrey Omelchuk, addressed them: The importance of developing endowment funds in science and higher education has been repeatedly emphasized by the leadership of our country. In recent years, a great deal of work has been done, undoubtedly with your help. Concepts of endowments have been approved, and amendments have been made to the federal law on the management of endowments.We have also introduced our own rating of universities based on the quality of targeted capital fund management and corresponding awards for universities that demonstrate the most outstanding abilities in this field. However, we also face significant challenges. In February of this year, we thoroughly examined all aspects of the management and development of targeted capital funds at a major strategic session led by Deputy Chairman of the Government of Russia Dmitry Nikolaevich Chernyshenko. Based on its results, a roadmap for the development of targeted capital funds was created, and changes to legislation were agreed upon.This must be taken seriously at today’s strategic session and, most importantly, to develop specific tools and mechanisms for implementing the improvement of the effectiveness of endowment funds in science and higher education. I wish you productive work.
At the plenary session, the Director of the Department of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Aslan Kanukoev, gave a report titled “State Policy for the Development of the FCS in the Field of Education and Science: Experience and Prospects.” He spoke about global trends in the development of target capital funds, about Russia’s historical experience, and about the tasks that need to be addressed today for the successful operation of these financial instruments.
“The Russian market of targeted capital demonstrates a stable positive dynamic,— noted Aslan Sultanovich. —The number of funds from 2011 to 2025 increased approximately fourfold. This indicates that the instrument is gradually maturing and moving out of the stage of separate initiatives, becoming part of the financial infrastructure of the non-profit sector. As of early 2026, 371 endowment funds are registered in Russia, of which 184 operate in the field of higher education. The university sector accounts for almost half of all endowment funds and is a key platform for the development of this instrument. The next stage should be associated with improving the quality of management, transparency, and financial results.About 24 billion rubles are planned for university target capital. The further task is not only to increase the number of funds, but also to enhance the financial significance for budgetary educational and scientific organizations.
Aslan Kanukoev emphasized that the endowment fund cannot develop in isolation from the organization’s strategy. It must be integrated into the financial model, external communications system, and the university’s long-term development projects.
Elena Ivanitskaya, Deputy Director of the Department for the Development of the Social Sphere and Non-Profit Sector of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, in her speech, spoke about the regulatory framework for the creation and development of FSC.
The president of the Southern Federal University, chairman of the Council of Rectors of Universities of Southern Russia, academician of the Russian Academy of Education Marina Borovskaya demonstrated the role of the FSC for the state and regions as an instrument of territorial development.
The CEO of the Vladimir Potanin Charity Foundation, Oksana Oracheva, shared her experience of long-term partnership and explained how co-financing mechanisms work.
The Director for Legal Affairs of the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, Deputy Director of the Fund for Target Capital Formation “Fund for the Development of Socio-Economic Sciences and Education” Irina Tolmachyova presented typical solutions for the creation and development of the FCK.
The Chairperson of the Board of the National Endowment Association, Svetlana Lavrova, delivered a report titled “Enlightenment and Promotion in the Field of Targeted Capitals: Measures for the Development of Philanthropy, Management Strategies, and Systemic Fundraising.”
On the development of FCSK using the example of an educational institution of higher education, Marina Petrov, executive director of the Specialized Fund for Management of Target Capital for the Development of MGIMO, spoke. The main emphasis in her speech was placed on human resources potential and managerial competence.
Senior Vice President of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, a member of the board of the Specialized Endowment Fund for the Support and Development of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Tatyana Zagarova, spoke about how FCSK as a scientific organization can facilitate fundamental research and technological breakthroughs.
The managing director of endowment funds “Rybakov Fund” Laura Sugrobova shared her experience in developing FSC in the field of general education.
Deputy General Director of JSC “REGION Asset Management”, Director of the Specialized Target Capital Fund “Philanthrop” Lyudmila Panteleeva dedicated her report to the issues of financial sustainability and the strategic potential of target capital.
After the plenary session, agreements were signed between several educational organizations and their partners. For the first time, a ceremony was included in the agenda of the event.
A donation agreement was concluded between the Endowment Fund of the South Federal University and the commercial bank “Center-Invest.” The documents were signed by the director of the fund Viktoria Mal’no and the chairman of the Board of Directors, Director of Bank Innovations Yuri Bogdanov.
Rector of Rybinsk State Aviation Technical University named after P.A. Solovyov Valery Koshkin signed two letters of intent: with the head of the separate subdivision NPO “Krista” in Yaroslavl Olga Konoval and the personnel director of the Rybinsk Instrument Engineering Plant Natalia Gordienko.
Agreements on the intention to form a target capital were signed by the rector of Maykop State Technological University Said Kuizhev, the general director of the specialized targeted capital management fund “Blagodarya” Yuliy Ulyanov, and the head of the branch of PJSC Sberbank AS Dyishekhov.
Asad Adamovich also signed the agreement on the intention to form a target capital with the Vice-Rector for Economics and Infrastructure Development of Vladimir State University named after Alexander Grigorievich and Nikolai Grigorievich Stoletov, Maksim Fabrikov.
The agreement of intent was signed by the rector of Bryansk State Engineering and Technology University, Valery Egorushkin, and the general director of the joint-stock company “Zavod Snezhit,” Ekaterina Anikushina.
Deputy Head of the Retail Sales Department — Vice President of VTB Bank Ilya Ermakov signed agreements on strategic partnership with the rector of Donbass State Technical University Dmitry Vishnevsky, as well as with the rector of Chuvash State University named after I. N. Ulyanov Andrei Alexandrov.
Work on the strategy session continued at the sectional meeting.Participants paid special attention to the issues of integrating target capital into the regional development strategy, forming a favorable regulatory and legal environment, overcoming administrative barriers, developing personnel potential and managerial competencies, the specifics of creating and operating target capital of scientific organizations, building a systematic communication strategy for popularizing target capital, as well as increasing investment sustainability and removing regulatory restrictions for the long-term development of target capital funds.
The result of the strategy session was the identification of the main problems in the development of endowments and the development of proposals for creating mechanisms to overcome systemic challenges and ensure sustainable long-term development of the target capital sector in educational and scientific organizations up to 2036.
Evaluating the work of the strategy session, Vice-Rector for Information, Youth Policy and Security Maksim Pasholikov emphasized: The state supports the universities’ aspiration for sustainable development. Since 2025, the Strategic Academic Leadership program “Priority-2030” has included a performance indicator for universities: “The share of financing attracted to the endowment funds in the total amount of non-budgetary funds of the university.”This became a serious incentive for educational organizations to continue developing this direction, and for business — a confident confirmation of the reliability of such an instrument for supporting the educational sector. Events organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia allow all participants in this process to synchronize their watches, finalize the regulation rules, and outline further steps for development without the rapidly developing endowment market in Russia in recent years.
By tradition, the day following the strategic session of the Ministry of Education and Science at the Polytechnic University will open the All-Russian exhibition “Endowment Expo,” where industry representatives will present the results of endowment work and the projects they support.
“On May 18 and 19, special events will be held at the Polytechnic University: the strategic session of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation “Development of Targeted Capitals in Science and Higher Education: Horizon 2036” and the NAÉ Assembly “Eternal Contributions — 2026”. They have been held at our university for more than one year now,— noted the chairperson of the board of the Target Capital Development Fund of SPbPU, director of the Department of Economics and Finance of SPbPU Elena Vinogradova. —These days, a unique team is gathering on the university campus: those who create knowledge and those who create opportunities. In the face of modern challenges, financial sustainability and long-term planning are not just advantages but indispensable conditions of leadership. The target (or Eternal Capital in the Russian historical interpretation) is not simply a “financial cushion,” it is the engine that allows scientists to look boldly into the future, and universities to implement ambitious projects without regard to the current conjuncture.
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