Rector Andrei Rudskoi's congratulations on the New Year 2026 and Christmas

Dear friends!

I wholeheartedly congratulate you on the upcoming New Year and Christmas! This is a wonderful time to look back and remember your victories and accomplishments of the past year, and to begin setting goals for the year ahead.

The year 2025 concluded with a significant event for our university — we marked the 170th anniversary of the birth of Prince Andrei Gagarin, the first director of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. On this occasion, we opened a new museum exhibition dedicated to Prince Gagarin, an exhibition of paintings by his great-granddaughter Elena Artsutanova, and also held several other large-scale events.

Throughout the year, our talented students and postgraduates have been winning presidential grants, named scholarships, and achieving victories in regional, national, and international competitions, olympiads, and sports events, further enhancing the prestige of SPbPU. In December, the «Omnivores» team secured a long-awaited victory in the international championship of robot combat sports, and Kirill Prigoda once again confirmed his status as one of the country’s and the world’s top athletes.

Our young researchers and lecturers have become winners of numerous intellectual and creative contests. We welcomed distinguished guests at Polytech and honored new honorary doctors of our university. In 2025, these included: Alexey Likhachev, Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom; Vitaly Savelyev, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation; Oleg Savelyev, Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia; Professor Mohammed Ali Berawi of the University of Indonesia; Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum; Sergei Brilev, Russian journalist and TV presenter, President of the Global Energy Association; Rustam Minnikhanov, Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan; the outstanding Russian scientist, Academician Valery Kozlov; and Georgy Fokin, General Director of OOO Gazprom Transgaz St. Petersburg.

Furthermore, SPbPU has gained new reliable partners. We have entered into numerous cooperation agreements with industrial companies and other educational institutions in St. Petersburg, Russia, and around the world.

This year, SPbPU became the coordinator of the Slavic Universities project. Universities exchanged experiences and jointly participated in specialized conferences and forums.

In addition, in 2025, Polytechnic University took part in major events such as the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum, the «Russian Industrialist» forum and exhibition, the «Innoprom» international industrial exhibition, and many others.

In 2026, we do not plan to slow down! We will confidently move toward our set goals, conquer professional heights, and explore uncharted directions. May every day become a step toward grand discoveries, and our ideas — the foundation for future breakthroughs.

I hope the coming year brings bright joy, the warmth of happy moments, and an inexhaustible source of inspiration into your lives. I wish you to welcome it surrounded by your dearest people — family, loyal friends, and like-minded individuals who will always support you and share the joy of your victories.

From the bottom of my heart, I congratulate you on the New Year and the bright holiday of Christmas! May these days mark the beginning of a wonderful journey, filled with bright events, positive changes, and unforgettable impressions.