BV: EEUA is an association of 57 universities from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and some other countries such as Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan. We do promotion of our universities for students to come and study in our countries.

We also run the International Universities Networking Conference to help universities to find partners in particular regions. We started only in Eastern Europe in 2011, and this year we’re also organising the conference in North America, Latin America and the Middle East.

“People just helped us for free. They just want to help their country in some way and know ‘ok, I did something good’”

The PIE: How did it start?

BV: It was founded in 2010. I was in HE, but we met with some people in Russia – very big businessmen – and they had an idea of how to promote Russian education in general to foreigners, as well as Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. We understood how to do but it needed a lot of resources for the first steps. And people just helped us for free. They told us ok, you want to go to ICEF, to EAIE, to fairs in China, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, India, whatever – they paid all our invoices for three years. Now we have a positive balance so it’s fine.

The PIE: Was that companies or private individuals?

BV: It was a private individual. They are not public people – they don’t want to appear publicly, they just want to help their country in some way and know ‘ok, I did something good’.

The PIE: What are your next steps as an association?

BV: We’re in the process of combining all our organisations in Eurasia with the University Union of Eurasia. In two years we’ve grown beyond Eastern Europe – so we wanted to make them separate projects.

All the registration should take about a month and by July or August everything will be complete. All the necessary tools for Eurasia, such as the platform by which agencies and students can reach more universities is already done, and now we’re giving universities the possibility to fill in their platforms – so actually, the system’s already working.

IUNC will become part of that too, and we will look after universities in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and potential members of the Eurasia Economic Union [which was formed as the result of a treaty between the three countries last year, with subsequent treaties with Armenia and Kyrgystan].

The PIE: What does the new economic area mean for higher education?

BV: It’s about creating one economic union with finance and manpower; if you’re a citizen of Belarus you can work in Armenia or Kazakhstan as a citizen and there will be a whole social package.

“The possibility for students to move from university to university will be much easier”

I would say it means that among those countries, the possibility for students to move from university to university will be much easier, and they will do all their studies for free. And also for international students coming to Russia, they can do a part time job, and after five years in Russia they can get citizenship. And actually the economy’s growing, despite all the difficulties. Our employment rate is very low and if anybody wants to work, a job is available.

The PIE: You said you’re reaching out beyond Eastern Europe – how are you doing that?

BV: We have the University Networking Platform, which is free for universities to register, and through that they can filter and find potential partner universities by country, by course of study, by language of instruction… it’s not just for Eurasian universities; you can find profiles of universities from the Middle East, from North and South America and other regions.

The service is like a small social network where you have the leaders of international offices or departments create a profile where you describe your university, international cooperation-wise… it’s only a year old, but we already have more than 800 universities.

The PIE: Talking about Russia – how has the rouble crisis affected higher education over the last year?

“This year I think we will have many more students, because even the cheapest places will not compete with Russia”

BV: Internationally it has created very good opportunities for universities to become more competitive. For example, one year ago tuition fees for computer engineering in English in Moscow cost US$4,000. But since the prices in Russia are in roubles, now for foreign students it will cost $2,100. And universities don’t lose out because they are getting the same payment from students in roubles as they were expecting, but they don’t have more expenses.

They will compete with China very well, because China was trying to take some of our students from India, from Malaysia, from India – this year I think we will have many more students, because even the cheapest places will not compete with Russia.

The PIE: And how do you think the conflict with Ukraine will affect students coming from there?

BV: The situation in Ukraine sounds like people will not go to Russia, but in reality students are going in a bigger amount. If people have saved a lot of money they can go to the UK or US, but the rest of them just go to Russia because it’s very easy; many of them can get a full scholarship and Russia has increased the places for Ukrainian students who can study totally free. Even those who want to pay, they go in even bigger amounts because they see a future in Russia.

“Students don’t see a future in Ukraine. In Russia, they can get a good education”

I’m a citizen of Ukraine: my mother is Russian, my father is Ukrainian, and I know both –I know that students don’t see a future in Ukraine. In Russia, they can get a good education; they can work; students born before 1999 can get Russian citizenship very easily, and if they were born later they can get Russian citizenship after five years.

The PIE: What impact do you think the political situation will have beyond that?

BV: We have some universities that have courses like Russian Studies – now we have more students from Western Europe on these types of courses, they come to get knowledge about this region.

And now, specifically the US and some other countries need more people who have knowledge about Russia and that region, because the region became more unpredictable.

And I think students will still come for specific courses like nanotechnology or nuclear energy where Russia has a good position.

“The number of foreign students coming from the US and Europe to Russia is very small; maybe 2% from the US and maybe 5% from the UK”

The PIE: Are there other areas that you think will see a decrease?

BV: The number of foreign students coming from the US and Europe to Russia is very small; maybe 2% come from the US and maybe 5% from the UK. And to say how much it decreased for long-term programmes, we will only be able to tell you next year.

I think it will not influence it that much because the majority of students who have no Russian or Ukrainian connection in their background is not very big. There are many students in the US who were previously citizens of Russia and Ukraine – so anyway they constantly go for getting a degree, because in Russia and Ukraine it’s cheap, then they go back as US citizens and find a job there.

And also I would like to point out some information about China. Outside the USSR countries, China is the biggest market for Russia. We have a very high number of students from China; it’s around 27% of students. I spent a lot of time in China last year and whenever the situation between Russia and the US becomes worse, our relationship with China becomes better. And even by our activities with possible partners, university partnerships and even students coming directly from China are increasing.

“Whenever the situation between Russia and the US becomes worse, our relationship with China becomes better”

The PIE: Do you think the 5/100 project is an effective way to increase internationalisation at Russian universities?

BV: In my opinion that this is a very good project, because we have to somehow spotlight our universities, and according to this project universities are given more possibilities to develop and grow. We communicate with the 5/100 office frequently – often they ask us where to go, what to do, what the most efficient way of doing things is. If you’ve been to NAFSA, there’s been a very big boost for 5/100 universities there – they became more visible. I would say that now foreign universities can identify potential partners from Russia more easily.

And a lot of them now have degree courses in English; most of them only at Master’s level, but this is a good step, and they’re learning from foreign universities about becoming more international and more recognised internationally.