A successor to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, it was released under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) after President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree №1156 in 2002.

On 17 June 2024 the project was suspended due to discontinued funding from the Russian government and by October 2024, its materials are being transferred to Ruwiki.

[4][5][6] Yury Osipov, a mathematician, President of RAS (1991-2013), is the GRE Editor in Chief and Chairman of the Scientific Editorial Board.

Fortov, Konstantin V. Frolov, Yuri I. Chernov, Gorimir G. Chernii, Alexander O. Chubarian, Vitaly D. Shafranov, Sergey V. Shestakov, Dmitry V. Shirkov.

Boris A. Babayan, Vladimir I. Vasiliev, Piama P. Gaidenko, Rudolf V. Kamelin, Michael V. Kovalchuk, Nikolai I. Lapin, Sergey S. Lappo, Alexey V. Yablokov.