On the eve of the rector elections of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the current head Volodymyr Buhrov found himself at the center of several loud scandals. He has already announced his intention to run for a second term and commented on the accusations against him. This was reported by Glavcom.
The rector elections are scheduled for May 27, 2026. Buhrov has been leading the university since 2021 and explains his decision to run again as a necessity to complete ongoing projects.
"My term coincided with the pandemic and the invasion. Of course, there were challenges that we were unable to respond to," he noted.
The scandal with the rector of KNU: what are the accusations about
One of the episodes concerns the verification of the declaration. The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption reported possible violations amounting to nearly 900 thousand UAH. In particular, it concerns an unlisted vehicle that, according to the agency, was used by the rector.
The court partially rejected the claims but acknowledged violations regarding the declaration of the vehicle. Buhrov disagrees with this and is appealing the decision.
Another high-profile case is related to the dissemination of intimate videos in an anonymous Telegram channel. Due to this, the Ministry of Education and Science created a special commission to verify the rector's activities.
The situation has sparked reactions within the student community. The student parliament expressed doubts about the independence of the investigation and announced a protest action.
KNU rector elections: what is known about the campaign
The submission of documents for participation in the elections is ongoing until May 2. According to Buhrov, the final list of candidates is currently unknown.
Among the potential participants in the race are officials from the education sector. At the same time, the rector emphasizes the importance of university self-governance in choosing a leader.
Those involved in voting include:
- scientific and pedagogical staff
- scientific staff
- students
- representatives of the administrative personnel.
Buhrov also emphasized that the university team was able to ensure continuous operation during the pandemic and full-scale invasion, including organizing training and assistance to defend Kyiv.
The elections will take place against a backdrop of internal conflicts and audits, raising attention to the campaign. A new rector will be elected for a five-year term.
It should be noted that law enforcement agencies of Ukraine have initiated an audit of several higher educational institutions regarding possible embezzlement of budget funds allocated under the state program for training personnel. This audit covers the targeted use of about 36 billion UAH allocated by the Ministry of Education for the years 2022-2024 and is focused on several specific universities.