The Ministry of Education and Science has rescheduled the election for the rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has changed the date of the vote in the election for rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The election is now scheduled for October 27, 2026, as part of the previously announced competitive selection process.
The relevant order from the Ministry of Education and Science was signed on May 11, 2026.
The ministry explained that the decision was made following a request from the organizing committee responsible for conducting the election at KNU.
The committee analyzed the preparation of the electoral process and identified a number of organizational and technical issues that must be resolved before the vote.
Specifically, these include inconsistencies in the university’s local regulations, the need for their revision and approval by the Academic Council, insufficient logistical readiness for the elections, the lack of adequate conditions for the work of precinct election commissions, and the need to strengthen security requirements during the organization of the process.
At its meeting on May 7, 2026, the Organizing Committee unanimously decided to appeal to the Ministry of Education and Science with a proposal to postpone the voting date.
Attached to the request were the minutes of the joint meeting of the Organizing Committee and the Central Election Commission, as well as the position of the University Student Parliament.
The Ministry of Education emphasized that the change in the voting date is purely procedural in nature.
“The decision was made after reviewing the official appeal from the organizing committee for the election of the rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The organizing committee appealed to the Ministry of Education and Science after analyzing the interim results of the election process preparations, as well as the proposals and comments from its participants,” the statement reads.
The Ministry of Education and Science also emphasized that the purpose of the changes is to ensure that the election is conducted in accordance with the law, the university’s charter, security requirements, and the principle of equal conditions for all candidates, as well as to minimize the risks of potential challenges to the results.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has appointed Valerii Kopiika, director of the Educational and Scientific Institute of International Relations, as acting rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
As a reminder, Volodymyr Bugrov was dismissed from his position as rector of KNU due to the expiration of his contract. Prior to this, he was accused of committing an administrative offense related to corruption and fined for failing to declare a vehicle.
Recently, the Sixth Court of Appeal of Kyiv upheld the decision of the court of first instance in the case of Volodymyr Bugrov, rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, regarding false declarations.
Thus, the court upheld the decision of the court of first instance. On March 4, 2026, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv found Rector Volodymyr Bugrov guilty of an administrative offense related to corruption, fining him for failing to declare a vehicle.
Journalists from “Slidstvo.Info” established that Volodymyr Bugrov, rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, became the owner of an apartment in a luxury new building in Kyiv, which he could not have afforded with the funds he had declared. The KNU rector registered a two-bedroom apartment with an area of 74.7 m² in his name in the newly built White Lines residential complex near Holosiivskyi Park. Currently, such apartments cost over $200,000.
