On November 23, MGIMO completed the 14th round of the advanced training program “GR and lobbying in Business and Nonprofit Sector”, implemented by Baikal Communications Group in cooperation with the School of Business and International Proficiency.

The purpose of the program is to master and improve the activities of professional specialists in presenting and promoting the interests of business and NGOs in government bodies at the federal and regional levels, as well as in the supranational and international space.

The course program consists of disciplines dedicated to various aspects of GR and lobbying activities: building communication between business and federal/regional government authorities in the context of geopolitical turbulence, GR in sustainable development of organizations, working with business and industry associations, expert and scientific organizations, state-owned corporations, and development institutions, as well as with the Subcommittee of the Government Commission on Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation. The core of the program includes studying internal and external GR and lobbying tools, such as personal contacts, inside information, written communication with government bodies, monitoring and analyzing the regulatory environment, industry and legal expertise of bills and other regulatory acts, PR tools, event management, and others.

23 experts spoke to the attendees, including the scientific supervisor of the program, PhD in Political Science, CEO of consulting firms Baikal Communications Group (Moscow) and Edward’s East Strategies (Astana) Eduard Voytenko, PhD in Law, Head of the Expert and Analytical Department of the Central Election Commission of the “United Russia” Party Alsu Khakimova, Director of Public Relations and Government Relations at Cargill in Russia Andrey Lyann, Vice President of Government Relations at Baltika Brewery Irina Fedorova, Director of Government Relations at Magnit PJSC (retail chains Magnit and Dixy) Yulia Khramaikova, Professor at HSE, Director of Corporate Relations and Sustainable Development at Kraft Heinz (Russia) Irina Arkhipova, Director of Government Relations at Olam International in Russia and the CIS Anton Yeropkin, Director of Government Relations at Uralkali PJSC, PhD in Economics, Professor at the Department of Economics at the MISiS University Oleg Kalinsky, Head of the Legal Department of Rossiyskaya Gazeta Alexander Moskovkin, Head of External Economic Activity Support at BIOCAD Evgenia Ovchinnikova, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo, PhD in Political Science Dmitry Polikanov, General Director of the Lake Baikal Foundation Anastasia Tsvetkova, Managing Director of Government Relations at Samolet Group Stanislav Bogdanov, Director of Government Relations at Machine Engineering (Rosatom Group) Dmitry Krokhmalev, PhD in Political Science, Associate Professor, Director of Government Relations at Krasnoyarsk Nonferrous Metals Combine Nikita Smirnov, Head of Regulatory Initiatives at Yandex.Taxi Dmitry Ashin, GR Director, Deputy CEO at Netology Valentina Kurenkova, Head of Government Relations at VimpelCom PJSC Dmitry Kononov, GR Director at NAUMEN Roman Kletskikh, General Director of the National Champions Association Alexander Lihanov, Director of the Legal Initiatives Center at the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Denis Abdrakhmanov, Associated Partner at Baikal Communications Group, Expert at the Economic and Legal Expertise Center (Moscow State University) Kirill Dozmarov, and Head of the Department of Entrepreneurship Advocacy at the Eurasian Economic Commission Artem Yulegin.

Throughout the course, the speakers shared their GR experiences from various sectors of the economy and NGOs: GR in agriculture, food industry, e-commerce, telecom, IT, Edtech, pharmaceuticals, retail, construction, metallurgy, chemical and mining industries, and others. A special focus was placed on the algorithms of GR departments’ work in sanction regimes.

During the six days of interactive sessions and masterclasses, participants studied the principles and functions of lobbying, methods and techniques of lobbying, GR and lobbying tools, and B2G communication technologies during crises, using examples from companies across various sectors and NGOs. A distinctive feature of this program was a masterclass on evaluating the economic effectiveness of a company’s GR department.

Participants included representatives from organizations such as DOM.RF, Rosseti Tyumen, RN-BashNIPIneft, Severstal Management, Steel Construction Development Association, Magadan Branch of Polymetal, Krasnoyarsk Nonferrous Metals Combine, T Plus, Svetogorsk Pulp and Paper Mill, Chery Automobile Rus, AvtoVAZ, Aloqa Ventures, Union of E-Commerce, MTS Travel, Roche Moscow, Veterinary Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, TRI-KA, Ochakovo MBPC, Rosagrolizing, TransContainer, COLDY, Saint-Gobain Construction Products Rus, Absolute Real Estate, AllianceGroup, Rosvodokanal, Reliance Group, Systeme Electric, SOER, Gazprom Social Initiatives Fund, Century of Enlightenment Foundation, Captains educational program charity fund, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, UNICEF, and others.

At the end of the program, 62 participants received state standard certificates of advanced training.

Registration is open for the 15th stream of study, which is scheduled for April 7-12, 2025. The course duration is 6 days (60 academic hours).

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