HSE Lyceum Student Wins Bronze at International Economics Olympiad

Bakhtier Mirzoev (far left)

© HSE University

Bakhtier Mirzoev, who graduated from the HSE Lyceum this year, won a bronze medal at the 2026 International Economics Olympiad (IEO 2026) in China. The annual competition features five-person teams selected from the winners and prizewinners of national olympiads. In this interview, Bakhtier talks about his preparations for the olympiad, the highlights of his trip, and his future plans (spoilers: he’s applying to HSE University).

The International Economics Olympiad consists of three rounds: tasks in economics and financial literacy, as well as practical sections related to modern economic processes. The school students had to analyse tasks related to trading AI licenses between countries and reorienting chip production. A separate round was devoted to a business case. Teams from various countries developed concepts for a special economic zone for their country using Suzhou—a centre of innovation in China—as a starting point, preparing a project that could help accelerate economic growth.

This year, two HSE Lyceum students of Economics and Mathematics competed as part of the Russian national team: eleventh-grader Bakhtier Mirzoev in the main team and tenth-grader Alena Dracheva in the reserve team.

— Bakhtier, how did you feel when you found out that you were going to represent Russia at the international olympiad?

— I was shocked. I realised that all my preparation had paid off. And at first I couldn’t even believe it was true. But when everyone started to congratulate me—relatives, acquaintances, friends—it was nice. I understood right away that I had a huge responsibility: I only represented myself in the All-Russian Olympiad, but I was representing the whole country at IEO 2026.

— How did you prepare? Did you bond with your teammates?

— First I identified my own weaknesses. I knew that I’m good enough at economics, but that I have problems with English. So I mainly worked on my English: I read the recommended textbook and studied with a teacher at the lyceum. The national team had some classes entirely in English, which developed our public speaking skills.

We trained for business cases and revised major topics in macro- and microeconomics. My teammates and I bonded almost immediately, as some of us already new each other. During our first meeting with the psychologists, we realised that we had similar goals and that we were similar in general—that brought us much closer together.

— What was the most difficult or nerve-wracking part of the olympiad?

— The most difficult or nerve-wracking part for me was the business case because we presented it completely in English, which is not my strong suit. It was also something new for me because the tasks in the All-Russian Olympiad are different and there’s nothing like that. The multiple-choice format even appears in regional olympiads, so overall I had already done the other rounds in some form or another.

The most memorable part was probably the open questions, because they changed the structure slightly this year. This year, there were four quantitative tasks and one qualitative one, while in previous years there were always three or four qualitative tasks and one or two quantitative ones.

— Now that you’ve finished your olympiad journey at school, what’s next? Where do you want to go to university?

— I’m applying to the joint HSE/NES Programme in Economics. I want to put all my knowledge into practice and maybe try my hand at various student olympiads. I also want to try out different kinds of internships to figure out which branch of economics I’m drawn to. As a student life I want to explore all areas of economics, from consulting to quantitative analysis. I also plan to teach.

— You took part in many olympiads during your time at the lyceum. How many did you win apart from IEO 2026?

— My achievements include winning the All-Russian Olympiad in Economics for the 11th grade and being a prizewinner in the same olympiad for the 10th grade. In the ninth grade I made it to the final stage but didn’t win. I am also a prizewinner of the Vysshaya Proba Olympiad in Economics, a winner of the Moscow Economics Olympiad for School Students and, interestingly, a winner of the Moscow Chemistry Olympiad for School Students.

Alexander Chelekhovsky, Head of Mathematics and Economics at the HSE Lyceum, Coach of the Lyceum Economics Team

‘Bakhtier has been taking part in economic olympiads since he was in the ninth grade, when he made it to the final stage of the All-Russian Olympiad in Economics for the first time. He has extensive experience. The lyceum’s optional olympiad courses and olympiad training camps in economics contributed greatly to Bakhtier’s training. And in the summer before eleventh grade, Bakhtier taught a class for incoming tenth-grade students of the Economics and Mathematics programme—and they were the most advanced group. I think this significantly improved his abilities.

The economics team is the largest in the lyceum. The secret to preparation is the team members’ drive and shared passion. Graduates of the lyceum return to teach at olympiad training camps, in classes, and on optional courses, so we have a large and close-knit team ready to move mountains when it comes to training for economics olympiads.’