In Moscow detained the former rector of the Academy of foreign trade
Former rector of the VAVT Sergey Sinelnikov-Murylev was detained on charges of receiving a bribe on an especially large scale. The investigation asks to send him under house arrest. Previously, the scientist received a suspended sentence in the case of embezzlement
Law enforcement officers detained in Moscow the former rector of the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade (VAVT), chief researcher of the Gaidar Institute of Economic Policy Sergey Sinelnikov-Murylev. The scientist was charged with receiving a bribe in an especially large amount (Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code), which provides for up to 15 years in prison. This was reported by two sources familiar with the investigation of the criminal case.
As the interlocutors of RBC specified, the criminal case against the former rector is being investigated by the Main Investigation Department of the TFR in Moscow. The investigator appealed to the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow with a petition to elect the scientist a preventive measure in the form of house arrest.
RBC sent requests to the GSU TFR in Moscow, Zamoskvoretsky court, VAVT and Gaidar Institute.
Sinelnikov-Murylev headed the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economic Development from 2007 to 2024. From 2002 to 2023, he was also Vice-Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). In different years, the scientist taught at the Higher School of Economics and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and at the Institute of Economic Policy named after E.T. Gaidar held the positions of deputy director, scientific supervisor and chief researcher.
Sinelnikov-Murylev was awarded the Order of Honor and Alexander Nevsky, in 2018 he received the President’s gratitude for his contribution to the preparation of Russia’s development strategy for 2018-2024. In December 2022, he joined the expert council under the government.
In 2017, Sinelnikov-Murylev took the third place in the ranking of the richest rectors of Russia with an income of 53.4 million rubles. In a conversation with RBC, he explained that the bulk of his earnings were scientific and teaching activities. “About a fifth of my income I receive as a rector. The vast majority are income from scientific and teaching activities. The remaining small part is interest on deposits in banks, he said.
This is not the first criminal case against the former president. In April 2023, the Lefortovo district court of Moscow sent him under house arrest at the request of the FSB investigation. According to the investigation, it was about theft of budget funds allocated for research work of RANEPA employees on orders of state authorities.
In March 2025, the Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow sentenced Sinelnikov-Murylev to four and a half years of probation. He was found guilty of embezzlement on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code) and abuse of official powers (Part 1 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code). The case also involved a former employee of the RANEPA Renata Fakeeva and Ekaterina Kabanova, accused of fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code). The court sentenced Fakeeva to five years of probation, and Kabanova to four years of probation.
