"New Ukrainian School." Meet the Graduate Multi-Millionaires!

While Ukrainian students and teachers rest before the new school year, the state continues to spend billions on modernizing school education. Computers, tablets, interactive panels, and other equipment are being purchased with funds from the state budget and international aid.

However, behind the glossy reports about digitizing schools hides a highly profitable business network of companies that until recently had nothing to do with education or electronics manufacturing: some traded food products, some were in the restaurant business… Inspection reports from regulatory bodies, court documents, and data from open registers reviewed by Glavcom show that the firms "digitizing" Ukrainian schools share many common features and may be connected to each other, and after earning tens or even millions, simply... go bankrupt. In addition, information is being checked about possible links between some participants in this business and officials responsible for digitizing education in the government.

This concerns procurement within the "New Ukrainian School" reform. Over 2024–2025 years, more than 1,1 billion UAH was directed to computers, multimedia panels, tablets, and software—almost 40% of the 2,9 billion UAH subsidy allocated for school modernization. A significant portion of these funds came through the Ukraine Facility program, meaning these are European Union monies.

The first results of inspections have already raised serious questions: nearly 230 million UAH of inefficient use of budget funds during procurement of multimedia equipment alone.

Against this backdrop, a recent statement by former Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi, who after his dismissal called the "New Ukrainian School" reform an "imitation of change," takes on particular piquancy. Exactly what the ex-minister meant is not known for certain. At the same time, the direction of education digitization is now in the auditors' spotlight.

More — in detail.

They earned millions and... went bankrupt

In 2024–2025 years, regulatory bodies inspected about 20 companies that had actively entered the market supplying multimedia panels for schools. Auditors were drawn not only to the volumes of budget funds spent, but also to similar characteristics of these enterprises: rapid growth, multi-million state contracts, minimal staff, and subsequent cessation of operations or bankruptcy.

Glavcom analyzed the most illustrative examples.

The first of them is Zaporizhzhia-based LLC Tovary dlya shkoly and Navchalne pryladoddya. Over two years they supplied multimedia equipment to educational institutions worth 28 million UAH and 50 million UAH respectively. At the same time, each company officially had only three employees, and both enterprises were run by the same director — Oleksandr Syrotenko. Already in October 2025 the two firms "collapsed" — they ceased business activity.

And this is a typical story. Another Zaporizhzhia enterprise, LLC Edu Log, reached bankruptcy proceedings almost simultaneously. Its ultimate beneficiary is Kateryna Doroshenko, who earlier had already undergone bankruptcy proceedings with the aforementioned company Navchalne pryladoddya, of which she had been the owner.

According to inspection materials, Edu Log played a key role in the supply chain of interactive panels under the B-Pro brand. The company searched for manufacturers mainly in China, signed contracts with them, coordinated orders with the B-Pro holding, and organized international logistics and customs clearance of the goods.

Effectively, according to regulatory bodies, fully assembled interactive panels of Chinese manufacture were imported into Ukraine. After that, a "Made in Ukraine" sticker was attached to them. And it appears this was a widespread practice.

According to materials held by Glavcom, Kyiv-based LLC Bi2Bi Solutions also positions itself as a manufacturer of Promethean ActivPanel interactive panels. At the same time, analysis showed that the company imports finished products manufactured in China. They then go to EU countries, including the Netherlands, and from there, through interconnected companies, make their way to Ukraine. According to available materials, the panels do not undergo any significant manufacturing processing.

Multimedia panels Made in China that ended up in Ukrainian schools

data: glavcom.ua

Most interestingly, some tender documents revealed inconsistencies. In contracts from 2024 the Promethean ActivPanel interactive panels were listed as products of Chinese origin. In analogous documents from 2025 the country of origin for the same products is listed as Ukraine.

Comparison of information on the country of origin of Promethean ActivPanel interactive panels in supply contracts for 2024 and 2025 years

Inspections confirmed that the supply of multimedia equipment for Ukrainian schools was mainly carried out by importing finished products from China, Taiwan, Japan, and other countries.

An important remark. In early June 2024 Ukraine and the European Union ratified the Framework Agreement that defines the financing mechanism under the Ukraine Facility. China and Taiwan, from which large batches of interactive panels for Ukrainian schools are imported, are not included in the list of "acceptable" countries. This means international partners, during their own audits, may raise awkward questions to Ukrainian authorities, who are not monitoring compliance with the Framework Agreement and are improperly spending partners' funds.

Regulatory bodies also classified LLC Podillia Finans as one of those "sly" suppliers; in 2024–2025 years it supplied equipment worth more than 90 million UAH.

At the same time, the presence of several intermediaries in the supply chain significantly affected the final price of the goods. According to the inspection, if the average customs value of one B-Pro interactive panel was almost 30 thousand UAH, Ukrainian schools bought it for about... more than 90 thousand UAH. In other words, three times more expensive.

A similar picture emerged for LLC Interaktyvni systemy navchannia. According to the analytical system YouControl, if in 2023 the company's revenue was only 728 thousand UAH, the following year it grew by 500 (!) times — to 366 million UAH. During that time the company managed, among other things, to supply interactive panels to schools worth over 120 million UAH. At the same time, inspection materials show the purchase price of some models was almost half the price ultimately paid by educational institutions — about 50 thousand UAH versus 100 thousand UAH.

One more facet of the company's profile is its legal address. The inspection showed that the address given in contracts in Kyiv was actually an auto repair shop with storage and repair premises. No signs of an office for a large supplier with turnovers in the hundreds of millions of hryvnias were found. And already in June 2026 the Commercial Court opened bankruptcy proceedings for this successful enterprise.

Network of connections

Analysis of the activity of interactive equipment suppliers revealed another circumstance. Some companies turned out to be connected not only through supply chains or shared business. Personal and professional ties among the people behind these enterprises are also traceable. Such circumstances alone do not indicate illegal activity, but they may warrant a separate inspection.

One of the key figures in this story is Kyiv resident Volodymyr Volkov. Since April 2025 he became the owner of LLC Interaktyvni systemy navchannia — the company that in a short time received multi-million state orders to supply multimedia equipment to schools.

Volkov's contact number in the Getcontact service is labeled by other users as "head of the Military-Patriotic organization 'Spas'" and "Vladimir Volkov assistant Yushchenko."

Volkov's company advertised an educational booklet, apparently published with Ukraine Facility funds

photo from open sources

Open data show that Volkov indeed served as an advisor to President Viktor Yushchenko on a voluntary basis. In 2008 he headed the State Committee for Fisheries of Ukraine, but lost the post after a few months due to violating the oath of a civil servant.

In spring 2025 Volodymyr Volkov presented himself as an advisor to then Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval. The latter left the government ignominiously, although he did appear on the "Mindich tapes."

However, for the investigation into school interactive panels a different fact is far more interesting. In 2018–2021 years LLC Interaktyvni systemy navchannia was owned by businessman’s son Ivan Volkov. He currently also owns LLC Smart tekhnolohii v osviti, which recently has also positioned itself as a manufacturer of interactive panels.

Notably, until 2025 this company operated under the name Fluerash and was engaged in the restaurant business. After changing its name and business profile, the company began similarly successful work in the educational equipment market.

Ivan Volkov is also mentioned in several media publications that reported his possible friendly relations with Deputy Minister of Education Dmytro Zavgorodnii. This official is responsible for the digital transformation of school education. He was appointed by the Cabinet on 28 March 2023 — a week after Oksen Lisovyi took the ministerial seat.

Since 28 March 2023 Dmytro Zavgorodnii has served as Deputy Minister of Education and Science

photo: Dmytro Zavgorodnii/Facebook

It was previously noted that Zavgorodnii and Volkov Jr. studied at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv at the same time (incidentally, both share the same birth year — 1991).

A Facebook post by Dmytro Zavgorodnii from 2 October 2019 shows he tagged Ivan Volkov in the context of a tender for procuring the hardware-software complex of the National Educational Electronic Platform.

screenshot from Dmytro Zavgorodnii's Facebook

This fact alone does not prove any unlawful agreements. At the same time, the sum of personal, professional, and business ties among participants in this market, according to law enforcement, became one of the lines of inquiry. Allegedly, the restaurateur somehow instantly retrained into a successful supplier of educational gadgets.

The financial indicators of LLC Interaktyvni systemy navchannia look especially telling. According to Opendatabot, in 2024 the company showed anomalous earnings for itself: net revenue from product sales reached 367,4 million UAH. And this against a very modest income of 728,8 thousand UAH in 2023.

Mysterious sole proprietor and his "galaxy"

If the story of the Volkov family companies can still look like a successful business project, the emergence of LLC Techno Galaktyka on this market raises even more questions.

The company was registered only in February 2025 in the village of Velyka Tsvilia in Zhytomyr region. Within a few months it was already supplying multimedia equipment to Ukrainian schools worth tens of millions of hryvnias. When the company's legal address was checked, what was found was not at all what was expected.

"In fact, at the registered location there is a residential house with outbuildings, a hayloft and a shed for storing household items. Any signs, plaques, or other indications of LLC Techno Galaktyka's activity are absent," the inspection materials state.

The company's director and owner is local resident Serhii Borbenchuk. The company's charter capital is a modest 1 thousand UAH.

Nonetheless, that did not prevent the enterprise from this remote village from supplying multimedia equipment to educational institutions worth 86 million UAH in one year. According to Opendatabot, in 2025 Techno Galaktyka's net revenue from product sales was 94,2 million UAH.

At the same time, inspection materials indicate the company had no administrative, production, or warehouse premises necessary to fulfill contracts of that scale. The staff officially comprised two people. Only at the end of 2025 did the company hire remotely a commercial director, an accountant, a procurement manager, and a public procurement specialist.

But it gets more interesting. During the inspection it was established that Techno Galaktyka purchased multimedia equipment from the already mentioned LLC Interaktyvni systemy navchannia and LLC Smart tekhnolohii v osviti — companies connected with the aforementioned Volodymyr and Ivan Volkov. So we are no longer dealing with isolated companies but a whole network of related firms supplying equipment to public schools.

According to the inspection, the average purchase price of one interactive panel from the Volkov companies was about 67 thousand UAH. After resale through Techno Galaktyka, schools bought the same equipment for an average of nearly 90 thousand UAH. The total difference between purchase and sale prices amounted to about 27 million UAH.

Another detail noted by Glavcom concerns the owner's contact number. In the Getcontact service Serhii Borbenchuk's number is labeled by other users as "Sergey from Volkov," "Representative of Ivan Sergey," "Serhii Vanya Volkov," "Serg Warehouse Volkov." Such tags in themselves are not proof of any relationships. However, they complement other inspection details that indicate business ties between Borbenchuk and the Volkov family companies.

Entrepreneur from Zhytomyr region Serhii Borbenchuk's number in mobile contacts is labeled with reference to Ivan Volkov

data: Getcontact

And these interesting coincidences do not end there. In users' phone books Borbenchuk's number is also associated with the company Food Solutions. Until mid-2026 this company operated in the restaurant business, food trade, and baking.

However, in July 2026 the company unexpectedly changed its name to Integration systemy navchannia. Its ultimate beneficiary is the same Ivan Volkov.

To a reader this may look like another coincidence. But in the context of the whole investigation it complements the overall picture: companies that until recently operated in completely different sectors, one after another change their line of business, enter the educational equipment market, and are found to be connected through common owners, suppliers, or business contacts.

Million-hryvnia contracts — minimal people

Another common feature uniting most key suppliers of multimedia equipment is personnel and financial incapacity.

Supplying equipment to hundreds of Ukrainian schools is not just purchasing devices. Such business requires warehouses, transportation, logistics, service engineers, installation and configuration specialists. However, inspections revealed a completely different picture.

According to inspection materials, a significant number of companies that fulfilled state contracts worth tens of millions of hryvnias officially had only one or two employees.

For example, LLC DniproBusinessConsulting, which supplied equipment worth almost 77 million UAH, had only one employee on staff. LLC Softstem, having completed supplies worth 76 million UAH, officially employed two people.

Two more employees worked at LLC Vektor STM, which received contracts totaling over 80 million UAH.

In the aforementioned LLC Navchalne pryladoddya, which supplied equipment worth approximately 50 million UAH, three employees were officially listed.

Of course, a small staff is not illegal. However, combined with the scale of the contracts performed, this fact cannot help but attract attention.

The financial capacity of some contractors also proved telling.

Despite million-hryvnia turnovers, some companies had symbolic charter capital — a metric that usually characterizes a company's financial stability and its ability to meet obligations.

For example, the charter capital of LLC DidaktikLab, LLC Tovary dlya shkoly, LLC Inter Systems, and LLC Softstem was only 10 thousand UAH. In LLC ELIZ Labs it was only twice as much — 20 thousand UAH.

Vitalii Taranenko, Glavcom