A Billionaire Is Trying to Ignite a Revolution in Russian Education

Emily Erken:

An education revolution could be coming to Russia. Its stage: the fields and forests on the outskirts of the country’s capital.

In 2012, the Russian government incorporated large swaths of land into Moscow, nearly doubling the city’s already vast area. Dubbed New Moscow, the new space was soon auctioned off under a mandate to develop it as an urbanist utopia of mixed housing, public transportation and recreational space.

Vadim Moshkovich, a Russian agriculture and real estate mogul, won the tender. Two years earlier, he had conceived Russia’s ideal private school to be set just outside the capital. New Moscow would serve as the perfect playground for his vision.

Moshkovich, whose net worth was estimated at $1.3 billion in 2014, created a 200 million dollar trust for his dream project, The Letovo School. The endowment will cover student tuition — $20,000 per year — a tantalizing carrot for most Russian families.