Mykhailo Poplavsky no longer heads KNUKiM

Mykhailo Poplavsky is no longer the president of the Kyiv University of Culture and Arts (KNUKIM) — his contract has expired.

This was reported by the Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi.

"When one person heads a university for more than three decades, it goes beyond healthy managerial turnover. The position of rector is a fixed-term and elective responsibility to the academic community. [...] Unfortunately, we had a practice that allowed, as a result of various legal maneuvers, to retain the position of rector or significant influence on the university, despite legislative restrictions," he noted.

Lisovyi emphasized that the university of culture should help people understand culture and cultivate high moral standards.

"Instead, over the years, the managerʼs name has repeatedly appeared in public materials regarding allegations of harassment," the minister added.

Ukrinform wrote that Ihor Komarnytskyi was appointed acting president of the university — he is a professor at the department of hotel, restaurant and tourism business at the institution.

Poplavsky and KNUKiM

Mykhailo Poplavsky was the rector of KNUKiM from 1995 to 2014. He was also an MP of the 4th, 7th, and 8th convocations.

In 2015, the Verkhovna Rada adopted amendments to the law on higher education, which prohibited the appointment of rectors to those peopleʼs deputies who voted for the "dictatorial laws" on January 16, 2014 (Poplavsky was among them). In 2017, this provision was repealed by the Constitutional Court.

Poplavsky circumvented the requirements of the new law and became not the rector, but the head of KNUKiM, while effectively retaining the leadership of the university. In 2021, he was re-elected to the position of president, which he has retained to this day.

Poplavsky has been repeatedly accused of exploiting students to promote his own work. There have also been allegations of sexual harassment.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.