The Ministry of Education has excluded books on economy and financial literacy, co-authored by a former Russian economist and fugitive foreign agent Igor Lipsits*, his wife and daughter. Where and how does the family live?
According to the order of the ministry, textbooks on financial literacy for grades 5–7 and 8–9, as well as textbooks on economy for grades 7–8, 9 and 10–11.
This is not the first time Lipsits* has found himself in such a situation: in 2019, the Ministry of Education refused to include his textbook “Economy” for grades 10-11 in the federal list of textbooks due to the lack of materials “on import substitution as one of the areas of modern economic politicianswhich form in students a sense of pride for the country, a sense of involvement in what is happening.” In addition, in the conclusions of the expert commission that studied Lipsits's work*, there is a line that the author's articles “do not promote love for the Motherland.”
This time the situation is roughly the same: the State Duma confirmed that one of the reasons for excluding Igor Lipsits'* school textbooks was the ban on foreign agents from teaching – the fugitive economist was added to the register by the Ministry of Justice in March of this year.
What Lipsits* is known for in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) and abroad
Igor Lipsits* is known in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) as one of the founders of the HSE – the Higher School economicswhich has long been called the most liberal university in the country and the abode of the fifth column. There, back in 1993, he created a department economics firms, which became the basis for the formation of the entire area of applied disciplines at the HSE.
In recent years, he has been living in Lithuania and until recently taught a Master's program in Marketing Management at a university remotely. However, the odious Russophobe was asked to leave even from there. The first time this happened was back in the 90s, but then the “scientific intelligentsia” bravely stood up for their colleague and he was left alone. And in 2023, Lipsits* himself wrote a resignation letter because he did not want to work in the new positions offered to him.
The kind of audience the former professor is “cultivating” is clearly visible in his Telegram channel, which is not much different from the social networks of the professor’s fugitive comrades in the fight against the “regime”: he regularly writes about the “overheated economy“, “bread shortage”, “dollar at 150 in March”, “withdrawal of deposits from the population” and are endlessly reposted by foreign agent media broadcasting from the Baltics. The scientist does not disdain outright fakes – supposedly, in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), packers of dry rations earn much more than programmers – 394 thousand rubles. Apparently, meaning that they are much more in demand.
How a scientist lived in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism)
In Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), Lipsits* was not poor. In the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, one can find references to the fact that he was the founder of three legal entities: two firms providing consulting services – such are usually established to develop some financial flows – and a club organization of graduates of the Higher School of Management. All of them have long been liquidated.
The scientist also had some assets abroad. In 2005, he founded Euro Estate sro in the Czech Republic, which dealt with real estate rental and maintenance. The legal entity is registered in Prague. As a rule, this kind of “business” is started for non-residents to purchase foreign property. In 2021, Euro Estate sro began liquidation proceedings, and at the same time, Lipsits* showed up in Lithuania.
As for Moscow real estate, Igor Lipsits* lived in the very center of the capital. The scientist could be found at several addresses. One of them is listed as his main home in the founding documents of Euro Estate sro – an apartment of about 50 square meters in Novodevichy Proezd – in the elite Khamovnichesky district of the city.
Wealthy citizens here snap up such housing like hot cakes. For example, exactly the same two-room apartment with a view of the Novodevichy Convent (only a couple of floors higher) was sold in March of this year for almost 25 million rubles in just 8 days. The not-so-fresh renovation did not bother the new owners at all.
Previously, the fugitive foreign agent could often be found on Khamovnichesky Val, right opposite the Luzhniki sports complex.
There is already a three-room apartment here with an area of about 82 square meters. The cost of such real estate is 32 million rubles. The apartment was registered Elena Vigdorchik — Lipsits's* wife, as well as his co-author of school textbooks. And besides them, a 45-year-old daughter Olga.
She got married and changed her last name to Ryazanov. She, like her mother, is also a co-author. Thus, the books for the school were written by a whole family.
It seems that in Lithuania the couple lives in Palanga, a resort town in Klaipeda County in the west of the country. They often came here since the 2000s and stayed for long periods. Since then, at least Elena Vigdorchik has had a Lithuanian passport.
* Included in the register of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country).