5 arguments against Bugrov as rector of KNU – the view of a former student

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At the beginning of March 2021, the rector of the largest and wealthiest Ukrainian institution of higher education (HEI) – Kyiv National University named after Taras Shevchenko – Volodymyr Bugrov became the then vice-rector for scientific and pedagogical work. He replaced Leonid Gubersky, who had been in charge of the higher education since 2008, and aroused at least interest, at most – hopes for positive changes in KNU. Although it was difficult to call Bugrov a “new face”. As a vice-rector, he was part of the Guberskyi team, which for so many years got involved in more than one reputational scandal – the expulsion of students from the ShevaPil anti-corruption initiative, the reinstatement of Portnov as a professor at KNU, numerous corruption scandals, etc. Bugrov’s victory was made possible in particular thanks to a very timely amendment to the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education”. She recognized as the winner of the second round the candidate who won 50%+ of votes not from those persons who have the right to come to the elections. And from those who actually came to them. (Due to the lack of this amendment in December 2020, that is, after the first attempt to elect a rector, Bugrov did not sign a contract). More than two years have passed since Bugrov’s victory. In this text, I want to tell what exactly, instead of positive changes, this choice of university brought. *The text contains a link to the Telegram channel “Red Huber” – it is a channel of the same name for our public organization, which closely monitors the life of KNU and higher education in Ukraine in general. Unfulfilled promises Every head of the Ukrainian higher education institution, signing a contract with the Ministry of Education and Culture, indicates the expected target indicators of his work for the duration of the contract. Thus, in his contract, Bugrov declared at least the 1150th place for KNU in 2021 in the Webometrics ranking of world’s universities – instead, the university ranked 1239. And the following year, 2022, it dropped even lower – to 1329th (instead of the promised 1100th). A similar situation occurred with the QS World University Rankings, where Bugrov declared the strengthening of KNU’s position. Instead, in 2021 KNU dropped from 441-450 to 601-650 place, and in 2022 – to 651-700. According to the updated data, in 2023 the university dropped another 30 positions and occupies 681-690 places. An equally interesting indicator of the rector’s work is the academic mobility of employees he promised during the pandemic. Thus, Bugrov claimed, if the pandemic continues, at least 575 KNU employees will be able to take advantage of academic mobility programs per year (and their number will increase by 5% annually). On the other hand, the real numbers are much smaller: 145 employees who took advantage of this opportunity in 2021 and 161 employees in 2022. According to my data, the rector of KNU did not fulfill any of the KPIs he had set for himself in 2021 and 2022. However, the objective assessment is, of course, according to the Ministry of Education and Culture, because such information is not published in open sources. Fighting corruption Two years ago, during the election campaign, Bugrov’s team paid considerable attention to the waste of funds by the administration and, in particular, by its opponents in the elections. Instead, now, already in the status of the highest administration, it raises several material and value questions to its work. The university did not shy away from purchasing services and goods from structures affiliated with university officials. The greatest public attention was attracted by the purchase of meat and meat products in volumes many times larger than before the full-scale invasion. KNU announced tenders with discriminatory requirements to purchase meat from “necessary” companies that did not even have a place to process and store such volumes of food. This is at a time when part of the food blocks did not work, and the number of students, cadets, employees of KNU who could use these services decreased several times (in particular, due to the lack of full-time education). How did the administration explain it? She made sure that the products were used to cook food for the cadets. Another example is the awarding of the administration by the administration itself in 2021 and, especially cynically, in 2022 and 2023. During the first five months of the full-scale war, the Bugrov administration, according to the response to the request of our public organization, rewarded itself with more than 400 thousand hryvnias. Reputational losses of KNU The loudest reputational loss for the university during Bugrov’s time was the publication of the rector’s alleged correspondence with students, university employees, ex-regionals. In the published materials that appeared on the network in February 2022, the rector allegedly offers female students, teachers and members of his team to enter into sexual relations with him, shares with them materials of an intimate nature, discusses the expulsion of “extra” students, helps the daughter of an ex-regional Heller to close the session, congratulates former parliamentarians on May 9, spends thousands of hryvnias on perfume for his mistresses, and tells how he tutors the president’s daughter. Although the authenticity of what has been stated has not yet been established, it is customary for the university community to consider the materials of the leak to be authentic. Most information can be verified using OSINT methods. Bugrov himself calls these materials compiled. Cooperation with collaborators and companies with ties to Russia At the beginning of 2023, KNU students noticed that on the third floor of the Red Building, in the gallery with portraits of outstanding graduates of the Faculty of Philosophy, a picture of the current head of the university appeared. In addition to the fact that the placement of the portrait itself is a moveton with the flavor of Pshonka, the students paid attention to another detail – the sponsors, with the support of which this gallery was created. Charitable assistance for its creation, according to the stand, was provided, among other things, by Medvedchuk’s law firm (BIM LLP) and a hotel (Hilton Kyiv) belonging to the international Hilton chain, which continues to do business in Russia. Also, in October 2021, Bugrov awarded a certificate for conscientious work to Oleksandr Karevin, a pro-Russian employee of the university, who openly spoke out against Ukraine. Viktor Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana Marchenko, later referred to him in her appeal as a “prisoner of the SBU” and asked Vladimir Putin to facilitate his release. And one more fact – KNU continues to cooperate with the company “YavKursi”, which prepares schoolchildren for the ZNO and NMT, and has connections with the aggressor country, its leadership and capital. Bugrov systematically ignores violations of fire safety Even before Bugrov took the rector’s chair, fire inspections regularly detected critical violations of fire safety equipment at the university, issued appropriate orders, and sealed the premises. So, in particular, on the basis of inspections, the OASK obliged the university to stop operating the assembly hall of the Faculty of Economics. The rector ignored this warning and repeatedly organized university events there. After the easing of quarantine requirements, classes were regularly held there. By electing Bugrov, the university community hoped to get a new, modern, efficient manager, but they made another mistake – and this mistake led KNU to even greater stagnation. Volodymyr Ksenich, a former student of KNU named after Shevchenko, the head of the public organization “Chervonnyi Huber”, specially UP. Life Publications in the “View” section are not editorial articles and reflect exclusively the author’s point of view.

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