Programme

Alexey Kudrin is currently Dean of School of Liberal Arts and Sciences of St. Petersburg State University. Since May 2000 till September 2011 he served as Finance Minister of Russia. His financial policies received international recognition; he was named "Finance Minister of the Year 2004" by The Banker magazine and "Finance Minister of the Year 2010" by Euromoney magazine. In years 2000-2003 and 2008-2011 Alexei Kudrin also held the post of Deputy Prime-Minister. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.Before joining the government, Alexei Kudrin worked for Saint-Petersburg City government, holding positions of Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg and Chairman of the Committee for Economy and Finances.Alexei Kudrin has academic degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences (PhD in Economics). He is professor, author of more than 30 research papers and articles on economics and finance, delivering lectures in many universities and colleges around the globe and providing his expertise to the government of Russia.

Born June 1, 1956 in Moscow. In 1978 graduated from the Economics Faculty at Lomonosov Moscow State University. In 1991 received his diploma from the International Business School at Harvard University. In 1980—1991 worked at the Ministry of Finance, USSR. Mr Zhukov has been elected five times (in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2011) as a Member of Parliament of the Russian Federation. At the second and third convocations of the Duma he was Committee Chairman for the budget and taxation. In December 2003—March 2004 and December 2011—September 2016 was Member of Parliament - First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. From March 2004—December 2011 Mr Zhukov took up the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Whilst working for the Russian Federation government he was responsible for the work of the ministries of the Economic Block, as well as for social policies. In 2004—2011 he headed the Board of Directors at the Russian Railways. Since April 2013 has been co-chairman of the Public Council on the development of fast and high-speed railways in the Russian Federation. In September 2016 was elected Member of Parliament - First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the 7th convocation. In the Duma, Mr Zhukov is responsible for creating programmes on legislative activities; leading work on the inter-factional group for developing the President’s Message; overseeing the work of the (tripartite) groups for the improvement of inter-factional relations in the Russian Federation; working with all the economic committees of the State Duma, as well as with the Committee of social policy; organizing cooperation with the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, with the government, and the executive power. He is also working at the Presidium of the Economic Council, under the auspices of the President of the Russian Federation. Over the course of many years Mr Zhukov has been in charge of support for high performances sports. Since May 2010 he has been President of the Russian Olympics Committee. In 2013 was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Chairman of The Bolshoi Theatre’s Board of Trustees. Chairman of the Public Council of The International Military Music Festival “Spasskaya Tower”. Member of the Supreme Council for the United Russia Party. His interests include football, chess and golf.

2005-now Chairman and CEO, VTB 24 (PJSC). 1999-2005 The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia. 2003-2005 Member of Parliament, Chairman of Subcommittee on Monetary Policy, Exchange and Capital Control, Activities of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. 1999-2003 Deputy Head of Committee on Budget and Taxes, Chairman of Subcommittee on Monetary Policy, Exchange and Capital Control, Activities of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. 1999 Special Adviser of the President of the Sberbank of the RF. 1999 Special Representative of the President of the RF on International Finance Institutions Relations. 1999 First Deputy Prime Minister of RF. 1997-1999 Minister of Finance of the RF. 1993-1997 Member of Parliament, Head of Committee on Budget, Taxes, Banks and Finance, The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia.

David D. Li is China’s leading economist and a top advisor to Chinese senior leaders. He is the Mansfield Freeman Chair Professor of Economics and the Director of the Tsinghua University Center for China and the World Economy. He is also the founding Dean of Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University, a fellowship program with a master’s degree curriculum that seeks to bring future global leaders to Tsinghua with the goal of bridging the gap between China and the world. The launch of the program in 2013 elicited congratulatory letters from China President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Obama. Professor Li has served on the Monetary Policy Committee of China’s central bank and is currently a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which functions in a capacity similar to that of Britain’s House of Lords. David Li is an active writer and speaker on issues regarding the Chinese economy and global politics. He frequently participates in discussions with leading intellectuals and other prominent figures from around the world, such as debating with Henry Kissinger, Fareed Zakaria and Niall Ferguson on the topic of whether the 21st century will belong to China. He also makes frequent appearances on television outlets such as CNBC and Bloomberg, and his writings and quotes can be found in prominent publications such as the New York Times, Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Education: 1986: Graduated from the Economics Faculty of the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. 1991–1992: Chief specialist in the Directorate on Economic Reform of the Standing Committee of the USSR Scientific and Industrial Union Board, Moscow. 1992–1994: Chief specialist, consultant for the Directorate of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Economic Policy Issues. 1994–1994: Adviser at the Expert Institute of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. 1994–1995: Deputy Head of the Economic Reform Department — Head of the Division for State Regulation of Economy of the Russian Federation Ministry of Economy. 1995–1996: Deputy Head of the Economic Reform Department of the Russian Federation Ministry of Economy. 1996–1997: Head of the Economic Reform Department of the Russian Federation Ministry of Economy, member of the Ministry’s Board. 1997–1998: Deputy Minister of Economy. 1998–1999: Deputy Chairperson of the Promtorgbank Board. 1999–1999: Executive Director of the Eurasian Ratings Service. 1999–2000: Vice President of the Centre for Strategic Research Foundation. 2000–2003: First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation. 2003–2005: President of the Centre for Strategic Research Foundation. 2005–2007: Head of the Expert Council of the Organising Committee for Russia’s Presidency of the G-8 in 2006, Head of Research at the Centre for Strategic Research. On September 24, 2007, appointed Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation. From May 12, 2008: Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. May 2012—June 2013: Aide to the President of the Russian Federation. From June 2013: Governor of the Bank of Russia. Member of the Bank of Russia Board of Directors according to Article 15 of the Federal Law “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)”. On the allocation of duties between the Bank of Russia Governor and Deputy Governors.

Sir Christopher Pissarides is the Regius Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics (the first and only Regius Professor of Economics in the UK) and the Professor of European Studies at the University of Cyprus. He also holds the position of Chairman of the Council of National Economy of the Republic of Cyprus on a voluntary basis. He was educated at the University of Essex and the London School of Economics (LSE), and he spent the bulk of his career at the LSE. Sir Christopher specialises in the economics of labour markets, monetary and fiscal policy, economic growth and structural change. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics, jointly with Dale Mortensen of Northwestern University and Peter Diamond of MIT, for his work on markets with frictions. The emphasis of his work has been the labour market and the theory and policy related to unemployment. Prior to that, in 2005, he became the first European economist to win the IZA Prize in Labor Economics, sharing it again with his collaborator Dale Mortensen. He is an elected Fellow of the British Academy, the Academy of Athens, the Academia Europaea and several other learned societies, and he is a Lifetime Honorary Member of the American Economic Association.In 2011 he served as the President of the European Economic Association. Between 2000 and 2007 he was the external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Cyprus, which brought the euro to Cyprus.

Kenneth Rogoff is Thomas D. Cabot Professor at Harvard University. From 2001-2003, Rogoff served as Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund. His 2009 book with Carmen Reinhart, This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly has been very widely cited by academics, policymakers and journalists. One regularity that Reinhart and Rogoff illustrate is the remarkable quantitative similarities across time and countries in the run-up and the aftermath of severe financial crises. In general, they show that for financial crises, the differences between emerging markets and advanced countries are far less pronounced that previously believed. Rogoff is also known for his seminal work on exchange rates and on central bank independence. His treatise Foundations of International Macroeconomics (joint with Maurice Obstfeld) is the standard graduate text in the field worldwide. His monthly syndicated column on global economic issues is published in over 50 countries. He serves on the Economic Advisory Panel of the New York Federal Reserve. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Rogoff is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Group of Thirty.

Dr. Jacob A. Frenkel is Chairman of JPMorgan Chase International, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Group of Thirty (G-30) and Chairman of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University. Previously he served as Vice Chairman of American International Group (2004-2009) and Chairman of Merrill Lynch International (2000-2004). He served two terms as the Governor of the Bank of Israel (1991-2000) and is credited with reducing inflation in Israel, achieving price stability, liberalizing Israel’s financial markets, removing foreign exchange controls, and integrating the Israeli economy into the global financial system. He was the Economic Counselor and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund (1987-1991) and the David Rockefeller Professor of International Economics at the University of Chicago (1973-1987). He is a Laureate of the 2002 Israel Prize in Economics, and a recipient of numerous prizes, honors and awards from various Universities and Governments. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (1995-1996) and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1999-2000). He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.