The Putin Exodus: The New Russian Brain Drain

A conversation with:
Ms. Evgenia Chirikova
Environmentalist 
Russia

Mr. Mikhail Kokorich
President and Co-Founder, Astro Digital Inc; Partner
Space Venture Fund

Dr. Sergei Erofeev 
Consultant
Rutgers University

Dr. Alina Polyakova
Director of Research, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center and the Future Europe
Initiative
Atlantic Council

Moderated by:
Ambassador John Herbst
Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center
Atlantic Council 

Since Vladimir Putin assumed his third term in office in May 2012, Russian emigration has surged to its highest levels since the 1990s. Unlike the 1990s where emigration was driven mostly by economic instability, the emigrants today are fleeing the economic and political system that President Putin has put in place. In addition, those leaving Russia also make up a key segment of Russian society- they are among the best educated, most entrepreneurial, and highly skilled from the middle and upper middle classes. The “Putin exodus,” or the new wave of Russian brain drain, will have profound consequences for Russia’s short- and long-term economic development, political environment, and policy.

 

The Atlantic Council and the Free Russia Foundation will bring together a panel of experts to discuss the key causes driving this new emigration and its implications.

We hope you can join us for this timely discussion.