Heading towards partnership: German professor Thomas Glauben visited USUE

Ural State University of Economics was visited by the director of the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Thomas Glauben.

The working visit of the German scientist to Yekaterinburg is tied to an important event that will take place on August 20, and today's meeting was held in an informal atmosphere, in friendly conversations, and interesting acquaintance with the University.

As a member of the International Council of Journal of New Economy, which is published by USUE, Thomas Glauben will be an editor of the special issue of the journal in English and will prepare its content together with IAMO scientists.

Thomas Glauben began his acquaintance with USUE by visiting an exposition dedicated to the Eurasian Economic Youth Forum. USUE Rector Yakov Silin gave a short tour, during which he told his foreign colleague about the most significant events in the history of EEYF. They did not shy away from the chess topic and the contribution of USUE to the development of chess art in the Sverdlovsk region.

During the excursion, Thomas Glauben shared his impressions: “I am pleasantly surprised that so much attention is paid to chess here! It is in Yekaterinburg, not in Moscow, not in St. Petersburg, that this wonderful sport is developing so rapidly and vividly. My daughter will start school this year, and I would like her to comprehend chess at school because no one teaches chess in kindergartens, which I consider a glaring omission. "

When asked what impression the trip to Yekaterinburg and the visit to USUE left, the scientist replied: “I really liked this city and I feel completely calm and free here. It can be seen that smart, enthusiastic people live in Yekaterinburg who are engaged in innovations, entrepreneurship, and in general, moving into the future. I was told that USUE was 54 years old, and that it was not much for a university. But you are already a very large university, much bigger than our institute. This pace of your development is very impressive! I think that there is a very productive cooperation ahead of us and that we will be useful to each other."

To become acquainted with the latest technologies of agricultural production in the context of import substitution, during the stay of Thomas Glauben in Yekaterinburg, a day was taken out to visit agricultural and food facilities significant for the city and region: AO Teplichnoye (a subdivision of UMMC-Agro), the largest vegetable producer in the region, a goat farm producing milk for cheese making under COEUR du nord brand, and a new-generation hypermarket Hyperbola. On excursions, the German scientist was accompanied by USUE Vice-Rector for Research, Viktor Kovalev, and Director of the Institute of Trade, Food Technologies, and Service, Vera Solovieva.

 AO Teplichnoye is a modern greenhouse system located on ​​24.44 hectares, where different varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, and salad greens are grown under cover.
“Until a few years ago, we were heavily dependent on import. Today, thanks to the import substitution program, the region is 95%.self-sufficient in producing vegetables. The Sverdlovsk Region is an industrial region; and all large agricultural enterprises are associated with industrial holdings. One of these holdings is UMMC. Thanks to federal, regional, and private investments, it became possible to create an ultra-modern, fully automated agriculture, where the system itself controls temperature, humidity, light intensity, and feeding mineralized mixtures," Viktor Kovalev said.

Not far from AO Teplichnoye, there is a goat farm furnished with state-of-the-art equipment. Since many dairy products fell under counter-sanctions, it was necessary to develop an import substitution program in this area too. Viktor Kovalev shared information that today the farm receives 1100 kg of milk per dairy goat per year. In total, the farm maintains 2,000 goats: “We are still in the early stages of the culture of goat milk consumption, and in this we are similar to Germany. Equipment selected from all over world and automated high-tech facilities allow developing high quality products, regardless of imports."

The director of Hyperbola hypermarket is Elena Surina, a USUE graduate. She made a tour of the hypermarket for Thomas Glauben and noted that when establishing Hyperbola, the management heavily relied on the experience of German retail chains.
“Having visited several enterprises and met their managers, I could see al

 “Having visited several enterprises and met their managers, I could see almost the entire life cycle of food products, from their production, packaging and transportation to sale on store shelves. I was interested to learn about the economic features of the production and sale of agricultural products. Comparing prices, I can say that here products are much cheaper than in Germany, and their quality is equally good,” Thomas Glauben shared his impressions.

At USUE, much attention is paid to the development of agricultural technologies, since the state of the agro-industrial complex directly affects the economic processes of the country. In 2020, Viktor Kovalev defended his thesis for a Doctor of Economics degree - "Development of the agrofood sector of economy in the context of the integration impact of environmental factors." And the subject of the dissertation defended by Alexander Kurdyumov, the head of the USUE Department of Competition Law and Antimonopoly Regulation, was "Improving the mechanisms of food security in the Russian Federation." 

Ural State University of Economics was visited by the director of the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Thomas Glauben.