HSE University and University of Campinas Join Forces to Build Alternative Financial System
HSE University and the University of Campinas (UNICAMP, Brazil) have announced the launch of a major joint research project to develop new approaches to an alternative international financial system. The initiative, which brings together leading experts in global economics and finance, seeks to analyse the current state of international financial architecture and explore ways of transforming it in the context of a changing geopolitical landscape.
The project was officially launched during the first joint winter school of HSE University, UNICAMP, and Durban University of Technology (DUT), held in Campinas on August 25–26, 2025. The start of the project was announced by Alexandra Morozkina, Deputy Dean for Research at the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs (WEIA), and Célio Hiratuka, Director of the Institute of Economics at UNICAMP.
According to Alexandra Morozkina, the overlap in the universities’ research interests in the field of economic blocs has helped to build long-term friendly relations. The researchers plan to focus on the study of international financial flows in BRICS countries and the possibilities for expanding settlements in national currencies.
The project envisages active involvement of both universities’ students and postgraduates. The partnership will entail joint research projects, academic articles, conferences, and seminars.
Students from HSE University’s Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs and the University of Campinas presented projects for future joint publications at the postgraduate forum of the BRICS conference. For example, Alina Semenova, a Master’s student in the World Economy programme, and Alisson Oliveira de Souza Carvalho, a postgraduate student at the Institute of Economics, announced their forthcoming paper ‘National Payment Systems Under Pressure: Lessons from Russia and Brazil for the Development of BRICS Pay’—a strategic analysis of building sovereign payment infrastructure in a multipolar world. The analysis is based on an exchange of Russian and Brazilian experience in establishing national payment systems.
Timofey Petrov, a third-year student on HSE University’s International Relations and Global Studies programme, and Vanessa Nakedi, a student at the University of Campinas Institute of Economics, presented a draft paper entitled ‘Normative Power of BRICS: Reconceptualising Development in a Shifting Geopolitical Order.’ The article examines the role of BRICS in reshaping the global narrative of international economic assistance. It assesses the bloc’s effectiveness as a counterbalance to entrenched aid practices that prioritise donors’ geostrategic interests at the expense of recipients’ sovereignty and sustainable development.
Kirill Lysenko, a PhD student on HSE University’s Economics programme, and João Guilherme Marques Augusto Monteiro, a PhD student at UNICAMP, proposed an analysis of the ‘middle-income trap.’ In their work, the doctoral students plan to examine a broad range of issues underlying slow progress in national development—from inefficient income redistribution systems to resource dependence and low investment in research and development.
Fyodor Alekseev, Junior Research Fellow at HSE University’s Laboratory for Economics of Climate Change, together with Flávio Vinius Ferreira, a student at the University of Campinas Institute of Economics, presented a draft paper entitled ‘Green Industrial Policies and Regional Climate Cooperation: Insights from Brazil and Beyond.’ The article aims to explore the extent to which green industrial policies in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico create the foundations for regional climate cooperation in Latin America.
The HSE University WEIA delegation took an active part in the school’s programme, which included lectures and discussions. Alexandra Morozkina and Anastasia Podrugina, Associate Professor at HSE’s School of World Economy, delivered a lecture entitled ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway: Approaches to an Alternative Financial System,’ presenting an analysis of the dominance of the dollar in the global financial system and the prospects for expanding settlements in national currencies, including within BRICS. Professor Igor Makarov, Head of HSE’s School of World Economy, gave a talk ‘Towards a New Sustainable Development Agenda Beyond 2030,’ in which he highlighted the need to transform the current model of economic development and underlined the key role of BRICS countries in shaping new approaches.
Participation in the winter school at the University of Campinas marked an important step for HSE in strengthening international partnerships, expanding academic exchange, and preparing a new generation of researchers ready to address complex challenges in international finance and sustainable development.