“Scientific Cashback”: How Officials Teach at Prestigious Universities for Declarations and Reputation

“Scientific Cashback”: How Officials Teach at Prestigious Universities for Declarations and Reputation

The dismissal of former Minister of Economy and president of the Kyiv School of Economics Tymofii Mylovanov from the supervisory board of Energoatom after a corruption scandal drew attention to the financial flows linking high-ranking officials, private universities, and state companies.

Mylovanov declared his first payment from Energoatom in May — 908 thousand UAH, and in total over the year as a supervisory board member he received 2 million 958 thousand UAH. Against the backdrop of these scandals, the KSE Board of Directors announced an external audit, citing risks that arose after public statements regarding Energoatom’s activities. Mylovanov himself reported this on Facebook, emphasizing that the audit will concern compliance and reputational procedures.

Millions from KSE: a legal path to high income and a “clean” declaration

At the same time, public attention is growing regarding the income of the prime minister and former minister of economy Yuliia Svyrydenko, who last year declared record receipts from the Kyiv School of Economics. Her annual salary in the Cabinet was about 1,2 million UAH (an average of 100 thousand UAH per month). However, according to the declaration for 2024, several times more — 3 million 103 thousand UAH — she received specifically from KSE for teaching services. These payments were formalized under three separate contracts. For comparison, in 2023 her income at the same institution was 851,7 thousand UAH, nearly four times less. Thus, for half a year of teaching at a private university Svyrydenko received an amount that exceeds the annual salaries of three rectors of leading Ukrainian universities combined and is almost three times higher than her own salary in public service.

The story was amplified by a public post by Member of Parliament Volodymyr Ariev, who pointed out that de facto the deputy prime minister earned the equivalent of $4000–6000 per month at KSE. He also emphasized a possible conflict of interest, since in 2024 KSE structures were implementers of grant programs whose beneficiary was the Ministry of Economy, then headed by Svyrydenko. According to Ariev, this requires a detailed check by the NACP.

Amid the criticism, Mylovanov stated on social media that payments from KSE correspond to market rates for specialists of that level and cited the recent visit of a Nobel laureate, whose fee was 70 thousand dollars for 2,5 days. Nevertheless, the issue of combining high private-university income, participation in state-regulated grant programs, and holding leadership positions in state companies remains open.

Svyrydenko is not the only high-ranking official who received sky-high fees from KSE. Her deputy, Oleksii Soboliev, was similarly highly paid as a lecturer from the Ministry of Economy. According to the declaration for 2024, Soboliev’s salary at the Ministry of Economy was somewhat higher than Svyrydenko’s, amounting to 1,6 million UAH per year (approximately 130 thousand UAH per month). In the “salary received part-time” field Oleksii Soboliev declared 1,5 million UAH of income from KSE, and his total income exceeded 3,1 million UAH. According to information on KSE’s website, Soboliev, like Svyrydenko, was an honorary professor.

The story of public figures receiving additional money sometimes comparable to or larger than a civil servant’s salary is not new. For example, current member of the supervisory board of Ukrzaliznytsia Serhii Leshchenko, while a member of parliament, declared substantial fees. According to Serhii Leshchenko’s declaration for 2015, 2016 and 2017 years, he received 19 thousand UAH, 315 thousand UAH and 314 thousand UAH as royalties from the publishing house Media-DK. The ultimate beneficial owner of Media-DK was Tomas Fiala, who at that time owned the NV website. What was published by the site to pay out 648 thousand UAH over three years was not specified. Serhii Leshchenko published his author columns in the “Opinions” section, which does not provide for fees.

Small fees from Mohyla Academy: income legalization or image?

In 2015 former Minister of Defense and former MP Anatolii Hrytsenko, during whose tenure a significant amount of military equipment and weapons were removed from the Armed Forces’ inventory, reported that he became a lecturer at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Apparently, he decided to wind down his career this way, since the job did not bring significant funds and he no longer had offers for high-status positions. He is listed as a lecturer on the academy’s website to this day, but his salary is only visible for 2018, since in 2019 he filed a declaration as a presidential candidate. Thus, in 2018 Hrytsenko earned just over 14 thousand UAH at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

In this respected institution we found at least two more top officials — former NSDC head Oleksandr Lytvynenko and supervisory board member of Centrenergo Volodymyr Velychko.

Whether Velychko actually teaches at Mohyla is not officially confirmed, since it does not appear in his declaration. In Volodymyr Velychko’s declaration for last year significant payments are recorded both as main salary and as part-time work and under civil contracts. The largest income — 1,105 million UAH — he received at SE Kharkivstandartmetrology as salary. The official also declared 620 thousand UAH in fees from PJSC Centrenergo, 470,2 thousand UAH from SE Horse Breeding of Ukraine, and 168,1 thousand UAH from JSC Radabank. In addition, Velychko received 61 thousand UAH as part-time salary at Kharkiv National University of Urban Economy named after Beketov, 35,7 thousand UAH at KZVO “DANO”, and 1,3 thousand UAH at the SSC “Institute of Metrology”. However, there are no mentions of salary from the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Velychko’s records. Apparently, he does not need to legalize income through teaching at a business school, since amounts matter less in such a case. However, he may need to “legalize” his reputation. According to investigation data from Bihus.info, Volodymyr Velychko was for a long time an assistant to communist MP Petro Symonenko in the Rada, in 2014, already after the Revolution of Dignity, he himself ran for parliament from the Communist Party, and in 2019 he was noted for marching through Zaporizhia as part of the Russian propaganda “Immortal Regiment” action.

It is also unknown whether Oleksandr Lytvynenko still teaches there, as his latest declarations are not publicly available. But earlier published declarations showed that most of his income came from teaching activities. The last public e-declaration Oleksandr Lytvynenko filed was in 2020, since the following year he assumed the position of head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

In 2020 Oleksandr Lytvynenko reflected 132 thousand UAH of part-time salary at the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” in his declaration. If his declaration is to be believed, teaching is his main source of income. In addition to the Mohyla salary, Lytvynenko declared 1 million UAH salary at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, 29,4 thousand UAH part-time salary at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 12 thousand UAH fee from the company “Kyiv Energy Services”, 3,9 thousand UAH in royalties from the ZN.UA publication, and 88 thousand UAH in pension. At the same time he is called a “Lyovochkin man.”

Teaching chairs as an instrument of political cashback

Thus, the cases of Mylovanov, Svyrydenko, Soboliev, and the Mohyla lecturers demonstrate a systemic phenomenon of “scientific cashback,” where high officials who influence the distribution of state funds and grants simultaneously receive significant additional income or prestigious positions in respected educational institutions. Often these institutions are directly or indirectly dependent on state policy, creating conflicts of interest and allowing officials to legitimize both reputation and income. The Energoatom scandal merely exposed this practice, but its scale is much broader and requires systemic regulation.

For decades the Ukrainian classical higher school served as a kind of “salon of academic titles” for politicians, where one could obtain a candidate degree without much effort. Dissertations were defended by Nestor Shufrych, Illia Kiva, and a whole number of other odious figures whose names have long been associated not with science but with formal diplomas and “paper” academic status. For decades academic titles in Ukraine were more about political capital than real research, and this created a tradition in which a career in government went hand in hand with buying academic authority.

Today many of these politicians seek “renewed legitimacy” in private business schools, where reputation and brand allow them to appear modern and competent. Teaching there becomes an elegant way to combine extra income and image support, instead of working on genuine scientific research. Business schools are becoming a new arena for politicians to legally strengthen their image and official income.

Author: Daria Volkova