Moscow Economic and Energy College (MEEK) (Moscow)

 vocational school, listed building / architectural heritage, 1906_construction, brick style

Tel. +7 (495) 695-1141

A state institution of higher education that offers instruction in computers, engineering, business management, economics and accounting particularly geared towards working in in the energy sector. The school aims to train skilled middle level managers to work in companies or power stations that deal with fuels and energy production.

Founded in October 1870 by order of Maria Fyodorovna (1847–1928), wife of Alexander III and mother of Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia, its original purpose was as a workshop for metals, particularly the production of locks. At its inception there was a close relationship with the Council of the Society for the Distribution of Technical Knowledge. An important part of its mission was education so it was not surprising that by 1881 it had became a vocational school with workshops training students in tool production for Moscow's factories.

The four-story building, which the school currently occupies, was built in 1906 as a result of a bequest made by philanthropist, merchant and factory owner, Flora Yakovlevich Yermakov. Although Yermakov had died in 1895, his family contested the will and the court did not decide it was valid until then. Also at that time the institute took his name.

Before the 1917 Revolution the name changed to the Moscow Electrical Technical School and by 1919 its focus was on training experts in the field of power, in particular for participating in the development and implementation of electrification plans for the Soviet Union. The name has changed several times over the years, but more than forty thousand students have received training at this well-regarded institution.