Dmitry Smolnikov

 Deputy CEO, Center for Strategic Research (CSR), Discover Russia

Dmitry Smolnikov is Deputy General Director of the Centre for Strategic Research (CSR), one of Russia's leading public policy think tanks, where he oversees the implementation and legal support of the organisation's flagship special projects. At CSR, he is responsible for translating strategic policy initiatives into legally sound, operational programs — bridging regulatory design with practical execution.

A central pillar of Dmitry's current mandate is his leadership of the national tourism brand "Discover Russia," launched under Russia's national project "Tourism and Hospitality" to promote the country on international markets. He built the legal framework underpinning the brand's licensing model and has personally negotiated and signed agreements with dozens of Russian regions — regional identities have now been developed for 61 constituent territories — while also driving the brand's expansion into international partnerships across the CIS and beyond. He also represents CSR at major economic forums, including the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), on the role of institutional platforms in advancing economic partnerships.

Dmitry brings more than thirteen years of legal and regulatory experience spanning federal executive authorities, private consulting, and the Government of Moscow. This background gives him particular expertise in aligning legal compliance with large-scale implementation — a skill set he has applied throughout his career in strategic analysis and policy institutions. His portfolio of delivered projects includes the federal "regulatory guillotine" reform of control and oversight activities, the Moscow rollout of the national "Labour Productivity" project, and the redesign of regulatory impact assessment procedures for the city of Moscow. He has also served as General Director of the Moscow Strategy Development Agency ("Mosstrategiya"), where he led legislative optimisation initiatives recognised among Russia's top-performing regulatory impact assessments.

Alongside his executive work, Dmitry is a Candidate of Legal Sciences, an active researcher, and an author of numerous scientific publications on public law and regulatory policy. He teaches specialised courses on regulatory reform and administrative law, drawing on real-world case studies from his federal and municipal projects. He holds a bachelor's degree in law (with honours) from Tula State University, a master's degree in law from the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), and completed his postgraduate studies at the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IGP RAN).