ICEF Winners of Russian-UK Student Economic Forum Visit Great Britain

In February 2018, fourth-year ICEF BSc programme students Anastasia Kaigorodova and Alexander Nosulich went on a study tour of Great Britain along with other winners of the Russian-UK Student Economic Forum, which took place last autumn in Sochi.

The tour was organized by the British Embassy. Its aim was to acquaint the students with the British economic system and business community, public administration systems and academic life. During their weeklong tour, they had a chance to visit London, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

In London, the students attended a meeting of the House of Lords. There was a discussion on the outlook for Russian-British economic relations, difficulties in developing cooperation, and the possible means to overcome them. Furthermore, they visited the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where the Chief Economist Shamik Dhar gave a presentation (last year he also gave a lecture at ICEF). He described the UK’s shift to a post-industrial economy and outlined the possible outcomes of Brexit. In addition, the representatives of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce organized a panel discussion with the students to discuss current trade and economic relations between the two countries.

In Glasgow, the students took part in an official reception at the Glasgow City Chambers. After that, they visited the University of Glasgow, where global economic trends were discussed.

In Edinburgh, the group visited the University of Edinburgh and debated the outlooks and problems of Russian-British economic relations.

Finally, the students attended a gala dinner at Blair Estate with the former British Minister for Energy and Climate Change, business leader and investor Charles Hendry. They talked about ways of doing business in Russia and possibilities for its future development.