BSU history
BSU history

The history of our university begins in 1920, when the Department of Economics was opened at the Faculty of Humanities of Irkutsk State University and the training of economists with higher education in Eastern Siberia began.

August 11, 1930. The Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (the government) adopted a resolution on the reorganization of Irkutsk State University and the opening of a separate Siberian Financial and Economic Institute in Irkutsk - the first higher education institution in Siberia and the Far East to educate specialists in economics and finance.

94 years

Baikal State University prepares bachelors, masters and graduate students in economics, finance, management, law, journalism, advertising, humanities and IT specialists.

1930 - Siberian Financial and Economics Institute (SFEI)

August 11, 1930. - By the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Siberian Financial and Economic Institute (SFEI) begins its work in the building of the Alexander-Mariinsky College.

In the year of its foundation, the Siberian Finance and Economics Institute had financial and credit departments. In 1931, the Institute had 238 students. Three professors, eleven associate professors and eight assistants were teaching classes.

The first graduation of specialists-economists took place in 1933 (86 people). The Institute had four buildings and one dormitory.

Head of the Institute:

  • 1930 - 1931 - Felix I. Chudnovsky
  • 1931 - 1932 - Olga F. Kogan
  • 1932 - 1939 - Pavel F. Bunin

1939 - Irkutsk Finance and Economics Institute (IFEI)

In 1939, the Institute was renamed the Irkutsk Finance and Economics Institute and was presented with the first Charter in its history.

In 1948 the Faculty of Planning and Economics was opened, and in 1953 the Faculty of Engineering and Economics was added to the Faculty of Finance and Planning of Economics.

In 1948 the Institute had 556 students, 39 professors (including 8 doctors and candidates of sciences).

In 1949, the Institute opened a post-graduate school.

A subsidiary farm in 30 km from Irkutsk and 2 more dorms were also added to the Institute's management.

In 1938, after the military confrontation with Japanese troops in the Far East and in 1939 at Khalkhin-Gol in Mongolia, part of the building of the Institute of Finance and Economics in the center of Irkutsk was given to the hospital. Only at the end of 1940, the hospital moved out of the Institute building.

From the first days of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) the central building of the Institute was again transferred to the military surgical hospital No. 1476. About one thousand of its staff and students were mobilized to the front. But the educational classes at the Institute during the war period were not interrupted. During the war years the Institute had a total of 1352 students; the number of graduates amounted to 245 people.

In 1961, the Institute was given the training and consulting center of the All-Union Correspondence Financial and Economic Institute in the cities of Blagoveshchensk and Chita. In 1963, the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Institute was transferred to the Institute, which functioned as an extramural training and consulting center until 1983. In 1971, an extramural training and consulting center was opened in Angarsk, which existed until 1989.

In 1958, an evening school for working students was established, which was converted into an evening department in 1960.

Head of the Institute:

  • 1939 - 1940 - Fyodor I. Panov
  • 1940 - 1941 - Vasily M. Baranov
  • 1941 - 1944 - Alexander G. Borisov
  • 1944 - 1954 - Vladimir Y. Polyachenko
  • 1954 - 1958 - Pavel K. Sokolov
  • 1958 - 1965 - Veniamin N. Dolzhnykh

1965 - Irkutsk Institute of National Economy (IINE)

In 1965 the Institute adopted a clear focus on training economists for all branches of the economy. By the order of the Minister of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of the RSFSR dated March 11, 1965, the Irkutsk Institute of Finance and Economics was renamed the Irkutsk Institute of National Economy (IINE).

In 1967, a correspondence department was established at the Institute. The Irkutsk branch of the All-Union Correspondence Financial Institute and the Irkutsk branch of the All-Union Correspondence Economic Institute were transferred to the Institute.

The university employed 256 teachers (39 doctors and candidates of sciences) in 1970.

In the following years the Institute developed dynamically, becoming one of the most prestigious universities in the region of Eastern Siberia and the Far East of Russia.

In 1970-1990, the Institute began training specialists in sociology and psychology, linguistics and journalism, in public administration, mathematical methods and computer science.

In 1980, the Irkutsk Institute of National Economy already had 26 departments, 4 faculties, 2 faculties of correspondence education, a department of evening education, educational and consulting offices in Angarsk, Chita and Krasnoyarsk. There were 7390 students and 28 postgraduate students.

While in 1970 the proportion of professors with academic degrees and academic titles was 20%, in 1985 it was about 55%.

Since the late 1960s, the Institute has been using electronic computer technology (“PC”) in the educational process and in research work. A computer room was equipped. In October 1986 an information-computing center was organized. In 1988, the first personal computers appeared at the Institute.

In 1981, a new nine-storey building of the Institute was put into operation, which housed departments and laboratories of engineering and economic faculties, computing center, administration and public organizations of the Institute. In the early 1980s, a new student dormitory with 1200 beds and a summer sports and recreation camp on the shore of the Irkutsk water reservoir were built.

In 1985, the Chita branch of IINE was established in Zabaikalye in the training and consulting center.

Head of the Institute:

  • 1965 - 1971 - Veniamin N. Dolzhnykh
  • 1971 - 1976 - Mikhail I. Bakanov
  • 1976 - 1987 - Viktor P. Ivanitsky
  • 1987 - 1993 - Mikhail A. Vinokurov

1993 - Irkutsk State Academy of Economics (ISAE)

The year 1993 opened a new page in the history of the Institute - it received the status of “Academy”.

In 1993, the volume of research and development (R&D) work increased dramatically. Dissertation councils were opened and worked: two candidate councils on four scientific specialties and one doctoral council on three specialties.

All undergraduate and graduate students were provided with a well-appointed dormitory.

The educational process was organized in three educational buildings located in the heart of the city. More than 400 workplaces were equipped with personal computers, and 25 computer classrooms were used in the training process.

In 1993, the Law Faculty was established and the institute began training lawyers in criminal, civil and administrative law.

In 1995, the Language Training Center was established with the aim of ensuring the achievement of the level of language communicative competence, which allows to use all types of speech skills in professional activities. The Center provided the advanced course of Oriental languages at the new educational programs of Bachelor's degree (“Economics of East Asia”). From that moment on, a course of advanced study of foreign languages by students was adopted, to which the University adheres to this day.

In 1997 the College of Business and Law was established in ISAE, which trains specialists of secondary vocational education.

In 2000, a graduate school was established.

The Academy included the Interregional Center for Professional Development and Retraining, as well as a publishing house.

By the end of the 20th century, the Academy had 5862 students and 46 postgraduates, 255 of 393 professors had doctorate degrees (more than 40 people) and PhD students. This was one of the best indicators in Siberia and the Russian Far East.

Head of the Institute:

  • 1993 - 2002 - Mikhail A. Vinokurov

2002 - Baikal State University of Economics and Law (BSUEL)

In 2002, Irkutsk State Academy of Economics became Baikal State University of Economics and Law (BSUEL).

Two more branches were opened in Bratsk and Yakutsk to train students in economics and law.

In 2009, Ust-Ilimsk Technological College became a part of the BSUEL branch.

In 2008, the Irkutsk College of Trade and Economics was merged with the University as a structural subdivision of the Institute of Trade of BSUEL. In 2013, the College of Trade and Economics of the Institute of Trade was renamed the College of Trade, Service and Tourism of BSUEL.

In 2005, six dissertation councils functioned in BSUEL: two doctoral and four candidate councils in 13 specialties.

In 2011, the university began training bachelors in forestry, land management and cadaster.

In 2015, the University had more than 14 thousand students and more than 700 postgraduate students. Out of 420 lecturers, 72 had a doctoral degree and 230 had a PhD.

Head of the Institute:

  • 2002 - 2014 - Mikhail A. Vinokurov

2015 - Baikal State University (BSU)

In October 29, 2015 BSUEL renamed Baikal State University (BSU)

The structure of BSU includes the following educational institutes: Management and Finance; Justice; State Law and National Security; World Economy and International Relations; Culture, Social Communications and Information Technologies; National Economy, as well as the International Faculty. New research units were opened: the Institute of Legal Studies, the Center for the Study of Russian History.

The university has more than 16 thousand students of all forms of education. Training is carried out in 36 bachelor's degrees, 6 specialties, 24 master's degrees, 13 PhD programs and 10 programs of Secondary vocational education. A number of areas of training is carried out by specialist courses.

Baikal State University has 12 academic buildings, six of which are connected with each other by passages. All classrooms meet modern requirements for the organization of the educational process. Students live in comfortable dormitories. The total area of buildings (premises) is 76873 square meters, of which the teaching and laboratory buildings - 48671 square meters, dormitories - 28202 square meters (data for 2024).

Head of the Institute:

  • 2014 - 2019 - Alexander P. Sukhodolov
  • 2019 - 2020 - Acting Rector Tatyana L. Muzychuk
  • 2020 - Viktor V. Ignatenko

International activity

Since the first years of its existence, the University has been actively engaged in international activities.

In 1934, the Institute began training personnel for Mongolia. Hundreds of specialists were trained for the Mongolian People's Republic.

After the establishment of the Faculty of Economics at the State University of Mongolia, close ties and exchange of experience in educational and scientific activities were established between the professors and scientists of IFEI and the Mongolian University. For high merits in personnel training for Mongolia the Institute was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the Mongolian People's Republic in 1972, and more than 60 teachers were awarded governmental awards of Mongolia.

Among the outstanding graduates are the state and political figures of Mongolia: G. Zandanshatar, Y. Tsedenbal, D. Molomzhants, D. Sodnom, as well as heads of the largest Mongolian banks, enterprises and associations of various branches of economy.

In 1947, by the Decree of the USSR Government, the Institute became the leading university for training economists for the countries of Asia: Mongolia and the DPRK.

From 1967 to 1990 the Institute had a department working with foreign students. During this period, 638 foreign citizens from 11 countries received a graduation diploma. Several people completed their master's and doctoral theses.

In 1955 a preparatory faculty for foreign students to study Russian was opened and is still functioning today.

In the 1990s, the University had more than 300 students from 25 countries, most of whom were citizens of Southeast Asia (China, Mongolia, India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Bangladesh) and the Middle East (Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey). The number of BSU students from North Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia, and Cameroon) was also growing.

For more than 20 years the University has been implementing Russian-Chinese and, until 2022, Russian-French double degree programs, as well as joint bachelor's degree programs with leading universities of Europe and Asia in the fields of “Economics”, “Management”, “Commerce”.

Since 2002 year the University offers foreign students a special educational program “Russian as a foreign language” in the direction of Bachelor's degree “Linguistics”.

University's focus on in-depth study of foreign languages at bachelor's degree programs gives the opportunity to master two or three foreign languages (including Oriental languages: Chinese, Korean, Japanese) at a high level, allowing to use all types of verbal skills in the professional sphere.

Over its 94-year history the university has grown into a powerful vertically integrated interregional educational and research complex, which includes all levels of pre-university, university and postgraduate training: educational programs of secondary vocational education (College), higher education (bachelor's, specialist and master's degrees), postgraduate and doctorate programs, training under programs of additional vocational education and professional retraining.

Long-standing traditions, highly qualified professors, serious scientific schools are a reliable guarantee of high quality training of future specialists and managers.