The rector was changed at Shaninka (Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences). The meeting of the founders of the university decided to appoint Maria Sigova as rector, since it is "difficult for Sergei Zuev to fulfill his duties in full due to the ongoing trial," Shaninka's press service told TASS.
“This is the end [for Shaninka],” says one BBC source close to the university. The decision to change the rector was made by the founders, the source clarifies. According to him, after the start of the criminal case against Zuev, there was no consensus on the fate of the university in Shaninka. “There were rumors that they would be declared a “foreign agent”. We were waiting for something like this all the time,” he says.
In addition, after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, four deans (heads of educational areas) and many teachers of Shaninka went abroad.
Maria Sigova is the rector of the Anatoly Sobchak Banking Institute. According to The Moscow Times, a merger between Shaninka and this institute is possible. In 2019, Sigova was elected to the municipal council "Palace District" in St. Petersburg from the United Russia party. In addition, she is an expert of Rosobrnadzor.
The ex-head of the Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin took an active part in the appointment of the new rector. Formally, he is associated with Shaninka, since he is a member of the board of trustees of the university. Kudrin was present at a meeting of university professors with Sigova and promised, according to BBC interlocutors, not to influence the current Shaninka programs and teachers, and also to give students the opportunity to graduate in 2023.
Zuev retains the position of scientific director of Shaninka and will participate in the discussion regarding the further strategy of the university movement.
Since 2021, Zuev has been under a criminal case for fraud on an especially large scale – embezzlement of funds allocated from the budget for the development of education.
Now Zuev is forbidden to visit Shaninka, RANEPA and Sberbank. The prohibition of certain actions was also assigned to other defendants in the case: Maxim Inkin, Yevgeny Zak, Artur Stetsenko and Kristina Kryuchkova.