People (Faculty of International relations and politics)

Faculty of International Relations and Politics


Dr. Igor Khodachek

Research interests: Government Accounting; Government Budgeting; Public Sector Reforms; State Strategic Planning; Smart City Governance

Dr Khodachekis an associate professor at the Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA. He holds a PhD in Business from Nord University Business School (Norway) and Master in Human Geography from Saint Petersburg State University. He authored and co-authored 25 research publications including articles in international peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and conference papers. In 2016-2020, he served as an advisor to the vice-governor on economic and investment activities at Leningrad regional government. Dr Khodachek is a member of the Russian Geographical Society and the Comparative International Government Accounting Research Association.

Select publications

  • Aleksandrov, E., Khodachek, I. and Bourmistrov, A. (2021) Performance Budgeting across Government Levels in Russia. From Dialogic Aspirations to Monologic Implementation in Hoque, Z. (ed.), Public Sector Reform and Performance Management in Developed Economies: Outcomes-Based Approaches in Practice, New York: Routledge (Chapter 14). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003004080
  • Vakulenko, V., Khodachek, I. and Bourmistorv, A. (2020) Ideological and financial spaces of budgetary responses to COVID-19 lockdown strategies: comparative analysis of Russia and Ukraine, Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 32 No.5. 865-874. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-07-2020-0110
  • Khodachek, I. and Timoshenko, K. (2018) Russian Central Government Budgeting and Public Sector Reform Discourses: Paradigms, Hybrids, and a “Third Way”, International Journal of Public Administration, 41:5-6, 460-477, https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2017.1383417

Dr. Elena Tsumarova

Research interests: identity politics, regional and national identity, public participation, memory politics in regions

Dr Tsumarovais an associate professor at the Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA. She took part in several international projects: Legitimacy, urban planning and sustainability in Russia and Scandinavia (LUPSRUSS-2; https://rucarr.mau.se/research/lupsruss/); UniCSoC — Universities, Civil Society, Public Wellbeing and Crisis (in cooperation with the University of Tuebingen and Petrozavodsk State University).

Select publications

  • The Institution of Public Hearings in the City of Petrozavodsk / G. Yarovoy, E. Tsumarova // Local Politics in a comparative Perspective. The cases of Petrozavodsk and Tubingen. — Germany, 2017. — vol.49. — P.163-172.
  • European Identity in Crisis. Some Perspectives for the European Identity Studies // European Politics and Society: Studies of Young Russian Scholars. Vol. 4 / E. Belokurova (ed.). — St. Petersburg: Svoe Publishing House. 2012– pp. 139 – 150
  • Identity Politics in Russia: Europe in Russian Political Discourse // European Politics and Society: Studies of Young Russian Scholars. / E. Belokurova (ed.). — St. Petersburg: Intersocis, 2009. Pp.123 – 146

Dr. Nina Shevchuk

Research interests: international security, modern international conflicts, negotiations and mediation, diplomacy 

Dr Shevchukis an associate professor at the Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA.In 2012-2015 she headed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Transdniestria and the Transdniestrian delegation in the negotiating multilateral negotiation process in the «5+2» format (Moldova, Transdniestria, OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the USA participate). She has the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. Dr Shevchuk has twice won grants in the framework of the Jean Monnet Competition (Erasmus + program). Both projects were devoted to the problems of conflict resolution and the role of the EU and Russia as mediators. Dr Shevchuk oversees the student club ‘Diplomat’. In 2020 she received the annual RANEPA Saint Petersburg Expert Award, recognized as the best international expert.

Dr Shevchuk is also involved in expert activities and events of the Russian Council on International Affairs, the Valdai International Discussion Club, the expert and analytical club under the patronage of the Committee on External Relations of the Government of St. Petersburg. Since 2021 Dr Shevchukhas been a member of the Association of Researchers of the Baltic-Black Sea region. Dr Shevchuk is the author of numerous articles on the problems of the Transnistrian settlement, modern international security, international conflicts, mediation. This year she edited the book «The Role of Russia and the EU in resolving conflicts and crises in the post-Soviet space: competitors or Allies?»

Select publications


Iurii Agafonov

Research interests: European Integration, History of the EU, EU Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Public Policy Analysis, Web-Scrapping, Data Analysis and Programming in Social Sciences.

Mr Agafonov is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA. He teaches courses on Foreign Policy Analysis and Post-Soviet Studies. He also works as a research fellow at the Faculty’s Laboratory for Public Policy Analysis, where he supervises and conducts policy analysis studies. Mr Agafonov is a PhD Researcher at the Faculty of Arts, Helsinki University. He served as a research fellow and visiting researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute, Helsinki University, Finland, as well as the Department of Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute, Italy. He is currently a member of the Finnish – Russian Network for Russian and Eurasian Studies in Social Science and Humanities (University of Helsinki).

Select publications

  • Agafonov I. (2018) Unintended Consequences of Europeanization: European Neighbourhood Policy and Political Regimes of Eastern Partnership Countries. Foreign Policy and International Affairs of the European Union: Comprehending the Role of the EU in the World, pp. 127-146.
  • Agafonov I., Lepele V. (2016) The “Golden Doors” to Russian Business Elite: the Recruitment Process and the Structural Transformation of Large-scale Business in Post-Soviet Russia. Mir Rossii, vol. 25, no 3, pp. 97-125.
  • Agafonov I. (2015) Strategies of elites of Eastern Partnership countries as a factor of implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy: theoretical approach revisited. International Organisations Research Journal, no. 4, pp. 115-130.

agafonov-yg@ranepa.ru


Dr. Vitalii Gorokhov

Research interests: Political leadership, Russian politics, Sports Research

Dr Gorokhov is an associate professor at the Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA. His teaching and research rest on two themes: sport studies and comparative politics, with a primary focus on sport policy and nation-building. Vitalii Gorokhov holds a Candidate of Science degree (PhD equivalent in Russia) in political science and an MA in political science from the European University in Saint-Petersburg. He was an Oxford Russia Fund Scholar at the European University at Saint Petersburg and a Carnegie Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan.

Select publications

  • Gorokhov V.I Will Survive: Regional Chief Executives (Governors) and the Principal-Agent Paradigm After the Abolition of Gubernatorial Elections in Russia // Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. Vol: 25, Issue 01, pages 1-13 https://doi.org/10.1080/0965156X.2017.1346054
  • Gorokhov V. Forward Russia! Sports Mega-events as a Venue for Building National Identity // Nationalities Papers, 2015 Vol: 43, Issue: 02, pages 267 — 282. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2014.998043
  • https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2018/06/13/01003-20180613ARTFIG00285-vladimir- poutine-sur-le-terrain-politique-au-mondial-de-football.php

gorokhov-va@ranepa.ru


Dr. Guzel Yusupova

Research interests: Political sociology, nationalism & diversity, memory politics, qualitative methodology.

Dr Yusupova is an associate professor&senior researcher at the North-West Institute of Management, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. She was COFUND Research Fellow at Durham University and Research Associate at School of Social Sciences at Loughborough University, UK. Prior to that, she was a postdoctoral fellow on projects in Sweden (REMESO, Linkoping University) and Austria (IWM). Her broader research interests include nationalism studies, sociology of ethnicity, migration and Islam in Russia as well as qualitative and digital methodology. She has taught courses on nationalism studies, ethnopolitics, memory politics and political sociology.

Her papers have been published in journals such as Social Science Quarterly, Ethnicities, Nations and Nationalism, Europe-Asia Studies, Nationalities Papers and others.

Select publications

  • Yusupova G. (2021) ‘How does the politics of fear in Russia work?: the Case of Social Mobilization in Support for Minority LanguagesEurope-Asia Studies
  • Yusupova G., Rutland P. (2020) ‘Introduction: Transformations of Nationalism and Diaspora in the Digital Age’ co-authored with Peter Rutland, Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 27. Pp. 325-330
  • Yusupova G. ‘Exploring Sensitive Topics in an Authoritarian Context: An Insider Perspective (2019) Science Quarterly, Volume 100 Issue 4. pp.1459-1478

yusupova-gn@ranepa.ru


Dr. Natalia Dobryagina

Research interests: Behavioral Economics, Decision Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Consumer Behavior.

Dr Dobryagina is an associate professor at the North-West Institute of Management, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. She held positions as a Visiting Professor at the National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary (2018); Visiting Researcher at the University of Barcelona, Spain (2015) and Visiting professor at Sciences Po Grenoble, France (2021). Her teaching and research focus on Strategic management and project management in public administration.

Select publications

  • Dobryagina, N. (2021) “New Entrepreneurial Decision Model Based on Decision Theory Application.” World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, online publication.
  • Dobryagina, N. (2020) “Agricultural Entrepreneurship Fostering from Behavioral Decision Theory Perspective. Celebrity Branding Impact on Financial and Non-Financial Motivation.” European Journal of Finance, published online 05 November 2020.
  • Dobryagina, N. (2019) “Agricultural Entrepreneurship Motivation Policies: European Union Experience and Decision Theory Application.” International Journal of Rural Management 15 (1): 97-115.

dobryagina-np@ranepa.ru


Dr. Ilya Matveev

Research interests: Russian political economy, public policy, theories of the state, left-wing politics

Dr Matveev is an associate professor and deputy dean at the Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA. Dr Matveev holds a Candidate of Sciences degree in political science from Moscow State University. He was a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, UC Berkeley.

He has authored more than 20 publications including articles in Europe-Asia Studies, East European Politics, Demokratizatsiyaand others.

Select publications

  • Matveev, I., Zhuravlev, O. (2021). Loft Offices and Factory Towns: Social Sources of Political Polarization in Russia. Socialist Register
  • Matveev, I. (2021). Between Political and Economic Imperialism: Russia’s Shifting Global Strategy. Journal of Labor and Society
  • Matveev, I., Novkunskaya, A. (2020). Welfare restructuring in Russia since 2012: National trends and evidence from the regions. Europe-Asia Studies.
  • Matveev, I. (2020). Benefits or services? Politics of welfare retrenchment in Russia, 2014–2017. East European Politics, 37(3), 534–551.
  • Matveev, I. (2019). Big Business in Putin’s Russia: Structural and Instrumental Power. Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, 27(4), 401–422.

matveev-ia@ranepa.ru


Dr. Yurii Medvedev

Research interests: Elections, Electoral systems, Electoral authoritarianism

Dr Medvedev is an associate professor at the Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA. He has a degree in philosophy from St. Petersburg State University. Dr Medvedev also graduated from the European University in St. Petersburg and received an MA in political science. He completed EUSP’s postgraduate program. Dr Medvedev has been a DAAD scholar at the University of Bremen, Center for Eastern European Studies (Germany).

He authored 13 publications and participated in many international conferences.

Select publications

  • Medvedev, Yu. S. Why Do Autocrats Need Elections? Political Science About the Role of Elections in Authoritarianism // Comparative Politics, 2020, Vol. 11, N 4
  • Medvedev, Yu. S. Elections to the Municipal Councils of Saint-Petersburg: The Effect of Applying the Electoral Formula // POLITEX, 2018, Vol. 14, N 1

medvedev-ys@ranepa.ru


Dr. Inessa Tarusina

Research interests: Public Participation and Involvement of Citizens in Decision Making Process, Elite Theory, Sustainable Development.

Dr Tarusina is the Chair of the Department of Comparative Political Studies, Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA. She authored more than 40 scientific works in the field of Russian political elites, relations between local government and citizens and other topics. She is a participant in international research projects Legitimacy, Urban Planning and Sustainability in Russia and Scandinavia (LUPSRUSS and LUPSRUSS-2) (ICLD/SIDA, Sweden) (2018-2021), Green Growth in Russian Arctic (2020-2021) (Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway).

Select publications

  • Gel’man, V., &Tarusina, I. (2000). Studies of political elites in Russia: issues and alternatives. Communist and post-communist studies, 33(3), 311-329.
  • Gel’man, V., &Tarusina, I. (2003). Studies of political elites in Russia: An overview. Elites and Democratic Development in Russia, 199-217.
  • Tarusina, I. (2003). Elite transformation and regime change: the case of Tomsk oblast. In Elites and Democratic Development in Russia (pp. 180-198). Routledge.

tarusina-ig@ranepa.ru


Dr. Svetlana Tulaeva

Research interests: Sustainable development, legal anthropology, Arctic studies

Dr Tulaeva is an associate professor at the Faculty of International Relations and Politics, North-Western Institute of Management RANEPA.Dr. Tulaeva served as an associate professor at the European University at St.Petersburg and a researcher at the Center for Independent Social Research. She received a Candidate of Sciences degree in Sociology from the European University at St Petersburg and a PhD in Legislative Studies from the University of Eastern Finland.

Select publications

  • Gladun E., Nysten-Haarala S., Tulaeva S. 2021. Indigenous economies in the Arctic: To thrive or to survive? Elementa, 9: 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ elementa.2019.00088
  • Tysiachniouk, M. S., Henry, L. A., Tulaeva, S. A., & Horowitz, L. S. Who Benefits? How Interest-Convergence Shapes Benefit-Sharing and Indigenous Rights to Sustainable Livelihoods in Russia. Sustainability, 2020. 12(21), 9025.  https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219025
  • Tulaeva S., Tysiachniuk M. Global Standards and Benefit Sharing among Russian and Transnational Oil Companies on Sakhalin Island. Russian Analytical Digest, 2017, Vol. 202. Pp. 10-14. Available online: http://www.css.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/gess/cis/center-for-securities-studies/pdfs/RAD202.pdf

tulaeva-sa@ranepa.ru