Graduate of SPbGASU Boris Elkin headed the Pskov City Administration
Boris Elkin graduated from SPbGASU in 2011. He made a career in road construction, and in November 2021 he was elected as the Head of the Pskov City Administration.
We requested Boris Andreevich to answer a number of questions about his student life, work and wishes for his native university.
Boris Elkin
– Why did you choose to become a road builder?
– When I entered SPbGASU, I applied for three specialties at once: "Logistics", "Roads" and "Bridges and Transport Tunnels". All these specialties were provided at the Faculty of automobile and road building. I chose the most interesting and difficult direction - "Bridges and transport tunnels", because I decided to get a full-fledged engineering specialty.
– Why did you choose SPbGASU among all technical universities in St. Petersburg?
– I had several options, I applied to three universities: PGUPS, SPbGASU and the Mining Institute. But SPbGASU remained a priority. Our university has always had a good reputation, several of my friends graduated from it.
Boris Elkin in his student time
– What do you remember most about your studies? Please name the teachers whose lectures aroused your greatest interest.
– Studying in the first year was not very easy for us - this is due to the fact that general education disciplines were taught. In senior courses, there were more major subjects - it became more interesting to study. We had many good teachers, some of them I still keep in touch. I was in contact with many of my teachers when I worked as the chairman of the Committee for Transport and Road Facilities of the Pskov Region. The scope of the road builders is quite narrow, and everyone knows each other well.
I never forgot the university, I helped organize excursions for students, for example, to the Ladoga bridge. I kept warm relations with my thesis supervisor Evgeniy Nikolaevich Kornylyev and the head of the department (at that time) Vladimir Apolinarievich Bystrov. I remember the lectures of Aleksey Sergeevich Sudomoin, Dmitry Andreevich Yaroshutin, Nikolay Yuryevich Dalyaev. Speaking about the subjects, the study of strength of materials has been borne in my mind, as it took me a long time before I passed it. It was difficult to study descriptive geometry and engineering graphics: it was difficult to draw by hand. The disciplines "Reinforced concrete bridges", "Wooden bridges", "Metal bridges" were very interesting to me.
– How did your career develop after graduating from SPbGASU in 2011?
– I wanted to find a future job already during the undergraduate practice. I sent my resume to several places, but by coincidence, I ended up in FKU Sevzapupravtodor. This is a customer service on federal roads - an interesting, promising job.
– What were your tasks then?
– When I was first hired, at the start they did not set difficult tasks. I needed to deal with collection of documents for conducting competitive procedures, acceptance of work performed, maintenance of facilities. I communicated with contractors, with the federal center, with Rosavtodor. It was with these tasks that my career began. In FKU "Sevzapupravtodor" (then renamed into FKU "Uprdor North-West") every year there was a systematic growth: I rose from an expert to the head of the capital construction department.
During the interview
At first, the scope of my professional interests was narrow - bridge structures. Then it expanded: it included the full preparation of the territory, the construction of artificial structures, interchanges. Of course it was more interesting. My professional experience was constantly growing, which allowed not only to move up the career ladder, but also to grow in the field of personal growth and education.
– In November last year, you became the Head of the Pskov City Administration. What tasks do you see as a priority, what problems need to be addressed as soon as possible?
– I'll start with the backstory. I became the head of the Administration, having worked for more than two years as the chairman of the Committee on Transport and Road Facilities, I was the chief road builder of the region. We must understand that building roads is one thing, but maintaining them is another. It is one thing to build a highway in the forest, another thing is city roads, when it is necessary to take into account the interests of different categories of citizens. There are pedestrians, there are new types of personal mobility aids, they need to be given special attention. It is necessary to create accessible and safe infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. In the period of globalization, a lot of people switch to new modes of transport, and this must be taken into account.
– This year SPbGASU turns 190 years old. What would you like to wish your native university?
– SPbGASU is a university with a rich history, its graduates are true professionals who have achieved career heights in various areas of life. For example, I became the head of the administration, and this does not quite correspond to my first education. That's how it happened, that's how the stars aligned.
I would like to wish a lot to the university, because this is the place where professional thinking is formed, the foundations are laid for the future path of life. I want to wish the university to continue providing the younger generation with this foundation, this foundation of adult life and human personality. So that highly professional specialists, professors, associate professors, who would always keep up with the times, would work at the university. After all, the situation in the world is changing, and you need to be very flexible and ready for certain changes.
– What are your wishes to future students, applicants who are just planning to enter SPbGASU?
– I wish them not to be afraid of challenges and not to be afraid to choose difficult professions. Engineering specialties are a status and important area of study. Good, highly-professional specialists are deficient. The first course is the base on which the entire pyramid of education will then grow. In the third and fourth years, the most interesting things begin.
I want to say thank you to the teachers who taught me lectures: it was exciting and interesting. I'll be honest: I was not always a good student, I never aspired to be an excellent student. But when it was interesting, when the learning process itself fascinated me, I enjoyed learning. It's the same in professional activity: you get pleasure from the fact that you can change something in people's lives. It stands high.
After graduating from the university, someone chooses scientific activity, is engaged in design, someone goes to a construction site or office. Every job is interesting in its own way. Everyone chooses what he likes, in accordance with his inner feelings. I would like to advise students to use summer internships, try all areas - design institutes, construction, office work. Only having experience in all three directions, you can get a complete picture of what is happening around, and what you can change. We must not be afraid to strive for new achievements, because each person invests a part of himself in the history of a particular process. It is very exciting.
Text: Ksenia Egorova, Elena Shulgina
Photo: press service of the Pskov City Administration, from Boris Elkin's archive
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