Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (FinU or Financial University; Russian: Финансовый университет при Правительстве Российской Федерации) is a public university located in Moscow, Russia. It was considered among top five universities in Russia in 2010 according to Forbes and RBC as well as one of the oldest Russian universities preparing economists, financiers, philosophers, bankers and financial lawyers. FinU had several bygone names: Financial University consists of eight faculties, 40 departments, three institutes, two high schools, two research institutes, eight centers, two training – science laboratories, a network of regional offices – 11 branches and four offices open in seven regions of Russia. Mikhail Eskindarov (Эскиндаров Михаил Абдурахманович), the rector of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation has signed a letter of support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

History

History of Financial University started in December 1918 when the People's Finance Commissar decided to create a specialized financial institution of higher education – the first in the history of Russia – Moscow Institute of Economics and Finance. It was opened on 2 March 1919, and its first rector was Dmitry Bogolepov – the Moscow State University graduate, the Deputy People's Finance Commissar of RSFSR. In September 1946, the institute was consolidated with Moscow Credit-Economic Institute training students since 1931. As a result of merger of these two institutions of higher education Moscow Finance Institute was formed, with Nikolai Rovinsky as its rector. It began with two thousand students and four faculties: Finance, Economic, Accounting, Credit, Monetary Economics, International Economic Relations. The Military Department opened later, in 1947. In 1991, Moscow Finance Institute was renamed to "State Finance Academy" and in 1992 Russian President Boris Yeltsin changed its name to the "Finance Academy under the Government of Russian Federation" giving a governmental status to the institution. In 2009, the Finance Academy celebrated 90 years of its history. On 14 July 2010, the Russian Government approved a new Charter for the institution changing its name from the "Finance Academy" into the "Finance University" and made it an official consultative body to the government. On 4 March 2011, KPMG opened its own department at the university to enhance cooperation based on lectures and practical activities covering audit, International Financial Reporting Standards, taxation and corporate finance. In 2011–2012 Financial University finished acquisition of three higher education institutions in Russia: State University of the Russian Ministry of Finance, Tax Academy of the Russian Federation, All-Russian Distance Institute of Finance.

Departments and faculties

The system of higher education established at Finance University includes:

Faculties

Departments

Academics

Admissions

Admission requirements are among the highest in Russia. In 2009 Finance University received 80 applications per one budget place. According to the research published by State University – Higher School of Economics, successful applicant of the year 2009 required to have on average 85 points of the Unified State Examination score in each subject in order to enter the course.

Research profile

Finance University carries out research activities. These include both fundamental and applied research in the areas of finance, money circulation and credit, insurance, accounting and audit, business evaluation, international monetary relations; research done for post doctoral and PhD dissertations; development of expert-and-analytical materials requested by the bodies of legislative and executive power; organisation of scientific events (conferences, seminars, "roundtables", etc.).

Reputation and rankings

It was ranked between # 1,001 and 1,200 globally in 2023 in the QS World University Rankings. Based on the average score of the Unified State Examination in 2010, the university was ranked number 5 overall out of 476 Russian institutions of higher education and number 3 among institutions specializing in social sciences. Integrated ranking of the Russian journal "Finance" put the Financial University as the best higher institution for economics and finance in 2010. The university became the competition winner "Golden Medal "European Quality" in the category of "100 Best Institutions of Higher Education in Russia". Furthermore, according to the ranking of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the Finance University is placed third among top 100 Russia's institutions of higher education. The Financial University was also ranked among 32 best business schools in the world (1st in Russia and 16th in Europe) in 2013 by the "Ranking Web of World Business Schools".

Academic Publishing

Review of Business and Economics Studies

** Review of Business and Economics Studies** (also known as RoBES) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering economics and business. It was established in 2013. It is published by Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Aim and scope

The Review of Business and Economics Studies aims to select topics in economics and business science that are of interest for decision-makers in business and government, and connect business and state authorities to academia by delivering deep insights. The Review of Business and Economics Studies defines its scope as covering significant developments in economics and business including macroeconomics, microeconomics, international economics, international finance, international trade, industrial organization, labour economics, political economy, monetary theory, fiscal policy and socioeconomics.

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is included in the Russian Science Citation Index – a component of the Scientific Electronic Library ru:eLIBRARY.RU. The journal is abstracted and indexed in: Google Scholar, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), EconPapers – a service of Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), Scilit, ResearchGate, Scientific Electronic Library Cyberleninka, RoBES is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals. ISSN 2308-944X. eISSN 2587-7089.

Editorial processes

All submissions undergo a double-blind peer review. The review is carried out by the editorial board members and external experts on behalf of the editorial board. All reviewers must be experts on the subject of the reviewed materials.

Editors-in-Chief

2023– present: Dr. Pavel S. Seleznev 2013-2022: Dr. Alexander I. Ilyinsky ru:Ильинский, Александр Иоильевич

Notable papers

According to Google Scholar, the following three papers have been cited most frequently:

Notable alumni

Among the graduates are:

Academia

Business

Politics

Sport

International cooperation

Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the cutting of academic cooperation with Russia by a significant part of the international community, the Financial University had entered into 17 new agreements with partner institutes of Australia, UK, Germany, Spain, China, United States, Czech Republic and other countries, including:

International sanctions

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the government of Ukraine has introduced sanctions against the Financial University, its rector Stanislav Prokofiev, and president Mikhail Eskindarov. In March that year, Prokofiev and Eskindarov had signed an open letter of Russian university rectors supporting the invasion. The sanctions include an indefinite termination of any cultural exchange, scientific cooperation, educational and sports contacts, entertainment programs of Ukrainian entities and persons with the Financial University as well as a visa ban and asset freeze for Prokofiev and Eskindarov.

Other facts

Financial University is a member of the Russian Law Journal consortium.