Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Mykhailo Vynnytsky failed to be brought to justice despite the violations with signs of corruption. This became known to Kommersant Ukrayinsky 
Recently, it became known that Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykhailo Vynnytskyi is a co-owner of Expoplaza Limited Liability Company.
According to the law, he was supposed to transfer his corporate rights to management within 60 days of his appointment in May 2023. However, this process was delayed for six months, and the rights were transferred only after the violation was brought to his attention.
Oleksandr Shulga , Head of the NACP’s Department for Monitoring and Control over the Implementation of Legislation on Conflict of Interest and Corruption Prevention, noted that this was a violation of the Law on Corruption Prevention.
The legislation considers such violations to be “smaller”, which are not corrupt in the full sense, but are related to corruption. Such actions are subject only to disciplinary liability, which can range from a reprimand to dismissal.
In May of this year, the Cabinet of Ministers initiated an internal investigation into the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Mykhailo Vynnytskyi.
However, the Cabinet of Ministers reported
“To designate the Ministry of Education and Science as the body responsible for organising an internal investigation, instructing it to establish a commission for this purpose. The internal investigation shall be conducted within two months from the date of adoption of this order,” the Cabinet of Ministers said in its order.
According to the order, the Ministry of Education and Science had to submit relevant proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers along with an act on the results of such an investigation.
However, as reported
The Ministry of Education and Science reported
However, it appeared that the legislation does not contain a clear list of disciplinary offences and penalties for deputy ministers. Due to this gap, no legal grounds were found to bring Vynnytskyi to justice.
“The commission for the internal investigation found that there are no proposals for disciplinary action due to the absence of a list of disciplinary offences of deputy ministers and disciplinary sanctions that can be imposed on deputy ministers, and the lack of legal grounds for bringing these officials to disciplinary responsibility,” the Ministry of Education said in a response to the request
It should be noted that this situation, when the Ministry of Education is checking its own deputy minister for corruption, raises doubts about the objectivity and impartiality of such an investigation.
This is not only surprising, but also highlights the urgent need to revise the regulatory framework and improve the mechanisms for monitoring the actions of high-ranking officials.
It is important to ensure the independence of investigations to avoid similar cases in the future and to guarantee transparency and accountability of the authorities to the public.
What we know about Vynnytskyi
Mykhailo Vynnytskyi is a Ukrainian educator and public figure, Deputy Minister of Education and Science, lecturer, author of a number of scientific studies, research, intellectual journalism, and consultant. He has been a member of the Plast scouting organisation for over 40 years.
He is a sales management expert and organisational development consultant for many Ukrainian companies. He is actively involved in higher education reform. During the Revolution of Dignity, he was a regular commentator for the English-language media, analysing current events in his blog Thoughts from Kyiv.
Vynnytskyi is a lecturer of sociology at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, as well as at the Mohyla and Lviv Business Schools (UCU).
In 2015-2020, he was an advisor to the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine and worked on the development and implementation of PhD programmes.
From 2019 to 2022, Vynnytskyi served as the Head of the Secretariat of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance.
As you know, in November 2021, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruptionrevealed 7 episodes of Mykhailo Vynnytskyi’s illegal activities during his work at the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA), which resulted in a corresponding order and an administrative case.
The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv concluded that M.I. Vynnytskyi had committed an administrative offence related to corruption by his actions (case No. 761/35649/21). However, due to the expiry of the time limit for bringing to justice, the case was closed.
Despite this court decision, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appointed him Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine on 19 May 2023.
Moreover, in 2022, a few days before the liquidation of the scandalous Kyiv District Administrative Court, the court made a very controversial decision to cancel the above-mentioned NAPC order. However, by the decision of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal of 03.08.2023 in case 640/20433/21, this decision was cancelled and the legality of the NAPC’s order regarding the corrupt actions of M. I. Vynnytskyi was confirmed.
It is worth reminding that in Ukraine, all persons whose corrupt acts have been established by a court are subject to inclusion in the Unified State Register of Corrupt Officials.