How Stefanchuk secures awards for friends and relatives

While Ukraine wages an exhausting battle against external aggression, high-level corruption schemes continue within the country. At the centre of the scandal is Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where questionable appointments and the distribution of state awards are taking place.

Family ties and pressure on the academic council

One of the most cynical episodes is unfolding around the Boris Paton National Prize. Under pressure from Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, his wife, Marina Stefanchuk, a professor at the Scientific and Educational Institute of Law at KNU, is being pushed for this prestigious award.

It is no coincidence that Stefanchuk holds the post of chairman of the KNU supervisory board, while the university rector is his close friend – Vladimir Bugrov.

Voting under pressure

On 28 February, an emergency session of the academic council of the KNU Institute of Law was held. Sources claim that the vote was accompanied by threats – lecturers were hinted that refusing to support Marina Stefanchuk would result in financial losses for them.

The next stage will be the session of the university academic council on 3 March, where the final approval of the candidate will be considered under the chairmanship of former rector Leonid Hubersky.

Not just Stefanchuk: who else is being promoted?

On the same day, the academic council will also consider the nomination of Ksenia Smirnova, KNU vice-rector, who is close to rector Vladimir Bugrov. According to sources, she not only regularly accompanies the rector on foreign trips but also previously attempted to illegally obtain the title of “Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine”, which led to the opening of a criminal case against her.

Lecturers at the KNU Institute of International Relations, where Smirnova is also listed as a professor, categorically refused to support her nomination, doubting her academic achievements. However, Bugrov found a workaround by initiating a questionable session of the Scientific and Expert Council, where her nomination was approved.

A question for the university’s reputation

On 3 March, members of the KNU academic council will face a fundamental choice: to go along with the system or to preserve academic integrity. First vice-rector Vladimir Ilchenko and head of the scientific work commission Serhiy Vyzhva, whom the rector has drawn into his ambiguous scheme, must sign the nominations for the candidates.

However, Stefanchuk has not limited himself to the university: according to sources, he is lobbying for the award for other allies as well, including:

• Oleksii Kot – director of the Institute of Law-Making of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, who studied at the Russian School of Private Law;
• Andrii Hryniahk – deputy director for scientific work at the Institute of Law-Making of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
• Artemiianchuk – deputy head of the Apparat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.