While the prosecution is reading out the "written evidence," I’ll write another "post from the defendant’s bench." I’ll answer everyone at once about Guriev, because I’ve already been flooded with questions after a number of articles came out, for example:
Sergei Guriev May Step Down from Many Positions The well-known economist came under pressure from the authorities after publicly supporting Alexei Navalny Read in full
A Liberal Wave of Emigration: Why Sergei Guriev May Leave Russia
Sergei Guriev, rector of the New Economic School, has withdrawn his candidacy from Sberbank’s supervisory board, submitting a request not to include his name on the ballot for the bank’s annual general shareholders’ meeting. Sberbank announced this on Tuesday, specifying that Guriev cited “personal circumstances” as the reason. Read more Prominent Russian Economist Flees Country Adviser to Government Steps Down From Posts Amid Probe Linked to Oligarch; Latest of String Leaving Under Pressure Well the questions are hardly surprising: after all, they’re writing that one of the two best-known Russian economists in the world is leaving Russia. Especially considering that the second best-known Russian economist in the world is Ekaterina Zhuravskaya — Sergei Guriev’s wife . I won’t go on at length about how good, brilliant, and smart Guriev is — everyone knows that already.
As everyone also knows, Guriev created the New Economic School, an institution recognized as one of the best in Europe in its field. Agree that this is something extraordinary for Russian education, which can generally be described as: "Under Yeltsin, everyone left, everything collapsed, the premises were rented out, and under Putin the rector took a bribe and handed over the land for housing and office development, so he’s very pleased." So. Sergei Guriev supported both me and our Anti-Corruption Foundation. I count on his support going forward as well. We will continue trying to work in a way that earns the support of people like Sergei Guriev and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. Guriev did not hide his views, does not hide them, and sees no need to hide them. In particular, he was one of the people who openly funded our Foundation, and publicly explained why he was doing it. Sergei also spoke completely openly about the "Kirovles case," thanks to which I now have the unique opportunity to write posts from the defendant’s bench. As for the claim that "Guriev wrote Navalny’s economic program," which is mentioned in many places, I can only quote Sergei himself, who told Vedomosti: I never wrote it, but I also never refused to write a program for Navalny. That is exactly the situation. We had many arguments about Sergei’s closeness to the authorities and his active work with various "Open Government" initiatives, etc. I criticized him for that (and I wasn’t the only one). It is well known that lately the Investigative Committee has been working actively to pressure experts who provide (and previously provided) objective and professional analysis in fabricated economic cases. Guriev was repeatedly questioned in one such case, unlawfully opened against an expert organization. I have no information that Sergei Guriev has emigrated, much less because of me or because of his support for our Foundation. In any case, we send Sergei Guriev and his wonderful family rays of support and macroeconomic happiness. Update: For more on the departure of economist scholars, read Konstantin Sonin. Update 2: Why Guriev’s departure would be a tragedy for the education system.