"The [reports of] bribes in the higher education system that are published today are nothing but the imagination of so-called experts," University Rector Viktor Sadovnichy said.
He said the estimated money from bribes included parents' spending on additional education and payment for various courses and textbooks.
"I think it is indecent to publish figures that have not been proven and have no evidence behind them," Sadovnichy said.
He also said private lessons were often considered a form of corruption in Russia.
"People involved in private lessons should not have any influence on the results of entrance exams. For example, if an MGU teacher holds exams, he signs a statement that he will not give private lessons," he said.
According to a survey conducted by the Public Opinion fund in September 2003, one fifth of Russian families would bribe an official to help their child join a good primary and high school (in Russia, the two are combined). Twenty-four percent of those polled were ready to bribe officials to make sure their child would be enrolled at a university.
According to the poll, the average bribe to get in a good primary and high school in the country is 10,000 rubles (about $350). The average bribe for getting into a good university is about 35,000 rubles (about $1220). In Moscow, the figure is three times as high.
The poll involved 9,000 respondents from Moscow, the Krasnoyarsk territory in Siberia, the Perm region in the northeastern part of Central Russia and the Yaroslavl region, 240 km north of Moscow.
