Poetins kroonprins leidt HO-elite-instelling

Achter deze particuliere opleiding zit een groep van de nieuwe ‘oligarchen’ in Rusland: ‘The Skolkovo Project is the product of deliberate planning by Ruben Vardanian, chairman and CEO of Troika Dialog, one of Russia’s oldest and largest investment banks. Mr. Vardanian did an exceptionally good job examining 18 world business schools and then drafting a plan for his own effort. Mr. Vardanian also has persuaded 12 Russian business oligarchs and two non-Russian investors to donate $5 million apiece to finance the school – including Roman Abramovich, the richest man in Russia.’

In de door Medvedev geleide internationale raad zitten enkele opvallende namen. De voorzitter van Credit Suisse in Duitsland, Herbert Henzler, de oud-premier van Singapore -die decennia het groeiwonder daar leidde met strakke hand en daarom door Poetin zeer bewonderd wordt- Lee Kuan Yew en Patricia M. Cloherty, Chairman and CEO of Delta Private Equity Partners, LLC, die voorheen het U.S. Russia Investment Fund and Delta Russia Fund leiding gaf.

De Skolkovo School gaat veel kosten: ‘Construction costs for the school are expected to reach $128 million, with another $100 million being invested in Skolkovo’s endowment fund. An additional $32 million will go to miscellaneous start up costs, such as hiring faculty, while the government has agreed to set aside 1.5 billion rubles (nearly $58 million) for the school from its national projects budget. The campus will open in September 2009.‘

De invalshoek van de instelling is onmiskenbaar: ‘Skolkovo will be an elite institution- it will admit no more than 300 Russian and international students a year. On average, the fee is supposed to be about $ 50,000 per year. Students from other leading emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil will be encouraged to enroll, while Russia-based students will take part in six-month exchange programs in these countries as part of the two- year MBA program.’