In 2007, he defended his thesis at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, where he was a Candidate of Economic Sciences.

At these posts, he oversaw the management of organizations with state participation, corporate governance, and privatization, and conducted an analysis of financial and economic activities of enterprises.

He actively participated in the largest public offerings of shares of Russian companies, including the IPO of Rosneft in 2006 and the privatization of VTB Bank in 2011.

He also oversaw the regulation of foreign trade activity; participation of the Russian Federation in the World Trade Organization; coordinated the implementation of principles of the best available technologies; ensured the activities on the application of measures of non-tariff regulation; and coordinated deputy ministers on interactions with foreign countries and international economic, sectoral, and regional organizations.

[7] In addition, he organized interactions with the supervisory board of the state corporation Rostek, and the Industrial Development Fund.

Along with this, Nikitin coordinated and gave instructions on issues of state policy in the sphere of development and use of information technologies in public administration.

Nikitin was one of the proponents of the bills "On Industrial Policy" and "On Standardization in the Russian Federation", and represented them before the deputies of the State Duma.