Liudmila S. Veselova

In a world where economic power is steadily shifting toward the East, Russia’s ties with Asian countries are becoming strategically important. HSE Graduate School of Business is taking an important step in this direction. On February 17, 2026, the first meeting of the Expert Council of the Center for Asian Business and Management Research (CABMR) was held. The event marked the start of building an interdisciplinary platform that brings together research, education and business to study Asia in a comprehensive way.

Alexander Yao Ganyo Ahiekpor arrived in St Petersburg in 2018 to study in the HSE University master’s programme ‘Management and Analytics for Business’. After graduation, he decided to continue his studies and enrolled in a second master’s programme ‘International Business’, to further expand his academic and professional expertise. Today, Alexander works in the Russian fintech company and continues to build his career in Russia. In this interview, he shares his experience of adapting to a new cultural environment and reflects on how his studies at HSE University-St Petersburg shaped his professional path.

In today’s business world — whether in Russia or on the global stage — success is impossible without mastering the art of negotiation. It is a fundamental skill that distinguishes outstanding professionals and turns challenges into opportunities. On October 21, as part of the “Made in Russia” Forum, the School of Export of the Russian Export Center (REC) held the “Student Tournament on Negotiations with Foreign Partners.” This year, the tournament reached a new level: for the first time, the competition was conducted simultaneously in three languages — Russian, English, and Chinese.

The HSE Graduate School of Business library has curated and presented a unique collection of business books.

Liudmila Veselova, Associate Professor at the Department of Management, HSE University-St Petersburg, is among 70 winners of the All-Russian Competition for enlighteners 'Knowledge.Lecturer'. In early February, the National Centre 'Russia' in Moscow hosted a grand awarding ceremony. Find out how the selection of the best lecturers in the country went in our article.

On February 5, 2025, the National Centre ‘Russia’ in Moscow hosted an awards ceremony for the winners of the fourth season of the All-Russian competition Znanie.Lecturer organised by the Russian Society Znanie (translated as Knowledge in English). The winners included 70 lecturers from 37 Russian regions. Representatives of HSE University were among the best of the best.

The editorial staff of HSE University-St Petersburg are looking forward to the new academic year as much as students and professors are. We are sure that it will be very eventful: there are exciting research projects, new educational partnerships and interesting scientific conferences waiting for HSE students. To mark the holiday, we have talked to deans, academic supervisors of educational programmes and research units about their expectations for the next year.

On January 30, St Petersburg hosted the International Scientific Conference 'Russia and Oceania: New Challenges and Prospects'. The event was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Republic of Fiji.

In January, UPES University (India) held the International Student Winter School 'Business and Governance in India'. HSE University-St Petersburg was represented by students of the bachelor's programmes 'Political Science and World Politics' and 'International Bachelor's in Business and Economics', as well as the Master's programme 'International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region'. Read on to find out what the students learned from the Winter School what lasting impressions they have.

On September 10–13, Vladivostok hosted the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). The participants discussed the development of Russia and its relations with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The delegation of HSE University-St Petersburg featured representatives of the administration, professors, and students of the campus.

In August, the HSE University-St Petersburg Summer School came to an end. The participants attended courses in political science, Russian, and finance given by professors of HSE University-St Petersburg, got to know the city, and saw the sights as part of the cultural programme. The summer school hosted students from nine countries: China, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, Uzbekistan and Russia.

Liudmila Veselova, Academic Supervisor of the Master's programme 'International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region', took part in the Amur Expo Forum.

Academic Supervisor of MA Programme "International Business in the APR" Liudmila Veselova took part in the AmurExpo Forum

Second year student of the MA Programme "Business and Politics in Modern Asia" Chaplina Elena about her internship in the Imperial Porcelain
Manufactory (IPM)

During the weekend, on February 4-5, HSE University-St Petersburg held the Winter School for which 3194 people had registered. Prospective Master's students had a chance to learn more about studies in the programmes, listened to interesting lectures from professors and business experts, and even ask Eugene Vodolazkin, a famous writer, their questions. Find out how these two days went in the article.

2023 will see the first intake for the Master's programme 'International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region'. We talked to Liudmila Veselova, Academic Supervisor of the programme, about the opportunities available to students of the programme, as well as the reasons why the English language and a mathematical mindset are important for success in studies.

HSE professors took part in an international conference in Tashkent and held a number of guest lectures.

On November 1, HSE University-St Petersburg started the international admissions campaign for the 2023/24 academic year. This year, the university offers 13 Bachelor's and 25 Master's programmes, four of which are new. We talked to the academic supervisors of the new programmes about the kind of students they expect to see and what future prospects graduates will have.

Alexandra Polosukhina, manager of Career Centre, talked to Liudmila Veselova, Academic Supervisor of the Master's programme ‘Business and Politics in Modern Asia’, about the employment of the graduated sinologists.

'Business and Politics in Modern Asia' is a master's programme aimed at students of Asian Studies and those who come from other educational backgrounds but have a strong portfolio. Each year the programme gets more practical: one can study analytics as part of elective courses, opt for various projects and do an internship at partner companies. In this interview, Liudmila Veselova, the programme’s academic supervisor, tells us in which way the programme cooperates with business, what international connections it has, and whether it is possible to enrol without the knowledge of Oriental languages.

Double degree tracks have been created as a result of a partnership between HSE – St. Petersburg and other programmes offered by well-known foreign universities. Participants are given the opportunity to study abroad for a year at a partner university. Upon successful defence of a thesis in front of a joint commission, students receive fully fledged diplomas from two universities.

Let’s learn a little bit about the person who makes a study process at Master's Degree Programme interesting and helps students to make their first steps in their career.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, the master's program «Business and Politics in Modern Asia» will open a new online course dedicated to the study and comparative analysis of the Asian and European labour markets. The discipline was developed with the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. Teachers and authors of the course – Prof. Veselova and Prof. Ribberink –  told us about the content of the discipline, its importance for students, and their expectations.

Call for Applications for the development and delivery of joint online courses with international partner universities completed at HSE University — St. Petersburg at the end of December. Now students of five educational programmes can take courses developed by lecturers from HSE and partner universities. Students of partner universities will take the courses along with students of HSE University — St. Petersburg.

China is not only one of the global economic leaders, it is also becoming more and more attractive for students to reach for higher education. What is so special about Chinese education and how do universities maintain a high level of quality?
Liudmila Veselova, associate professor at the HSE-St. Petersburg, academic supervisor of the masters’ program «Business and politics in modern Asia», and the moderator of the panel session «University education in China and future employment of graduates: opportunities and challenges»,explained the importance of this topic and shared her expectations about the Conference on Inequality and Diversity.

The agreement between HSE University – Saint Petersburg and Russian-Chinese Business Park was signed on December 4. Under the agreement, the parties will organize joint events including conferences, forums, exhibitions, round table discussions, on the business-park platforms. HSE students will have the opportunity to do their internships at Russian-Chinese Business-Park (RCBP).

Since September 2019, Lyudmila Veselova and Oleg Korneev have become part of the HSE Department of Political Science in St. Petersburg.