The fugitive bribe-taker Andriy Odarchenko, sentenced to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property and a ban on holding leadership positions, maintains influence over the State Biotechnological University. Who continues to carry out the corrupt instructions of the convicted bribe-taker, who fled Ukraine abroad and is hiding from justice? And why has the Ministry of Education still not terminated his contract - read in the UNN material.
Odarchenko's corrupt vertical of power at SBU
The fugitive bribe-taker Andriy Odarchenko continues to maintain illegal influence over the State Biotechnological University, even while hiding abroad. According to UNN, Odarchenko has direct contact with the top administration of the institution: acting SBU head Andriy Kudryashov, acting head of the SBU Academic Council Valeriy Mykhailov, and Yevhen Hrytskov – Odarchenko's long-time acquaintance, for whom a position has already been created at the university.
It is thanks to his connections with these individuals that Andriy Odarchenko can continue to control the university's corrupt financial flows. The fugitive bribe-taker formed and directed these flows in the right direction for 4 years – from the moment he was elected rector of the university in 2021. At that time, the rector's elections did not go without scandal, as other candidates for the position accused Odarchenko and the SBU administration of falsification.
Odarchenko, who was prematurely deprived of his parliamentary mandate, could not simultaneously hold two positions. Therefore, his contract as rector with the Ministry of Education and Science was suspended until Odarchenko had a parliamentary mandate. Instead, Ruslan Tykhonchenko was appointed acting rector of SBU. In Kharkiv circles, he is considered a person from Odarchenko's orbit and an experienced bribe-taker. He, along with Yevhen Hrytskov, could have been involved in embezzlement during the construction of the Kharkiv oncology center.
Among the corrupt schemes created by Odarchenko at SBU, possible, in particular, is illegal enrichment on university lands (approximately 4.2 thousand hectares and about 8 thousand hectares of forest lands), which should be used for educational and research purposes, but instead are leased out covertly. As UNN wrote earlier, a significant part of the land fund was transferred for cultivation or "joint activities" to private LLCs (for example, LLC "RV Agro", "Agrozoovet", FG "Zori Derhachivshchyny"). Income from such farming, presumably, settles in the pockets of Odarchenko and people from his corrupt orbit.
According to sources, in 2021, through fictitious underestimation of wheat yields and double accounting, over $200,000 was withdrawn, and in subsequent years, during martial law, the university lost about UAH 80 million due to illegal use of fields. Part of the harvest was stored in elevators of related companies, where the grain simply "disappeared"; in parallel, several versions of accounting and "black accounting" were maintained, which indicates probable official forgery and systemic misappropriation of property. The UNN editorial office calls on law enforcement agencies to initiate an audit of the top administration of SBU and bring those responsible for the embezzlement to justice.
Why is the Head of the SBU Supervisory Board, MP Yulia Hryshyna, inactive?
The SBU Supervisory Board, which should control the management of university property and the use of its financial and material and technical resources, seems to prefer to "not notice" corruption at the university. Recently appointed head of the SBU Supervisory Board, MP Yulia Hryshyna not only ignores the facts of embezzlement at the university and salary arrears to the teaching staff of over UAH 20 million, but may also cover the fugitive bribe-taker Odarchenko. Hryshyna, according to verified UNN sources, has a close connection with him.
According to UNN, former colleagues from the "Servant of the People" faction, Andriy Odarchenko and Yulia Hryshyna, are connected not only by their once common faction. Odarchenko, who always "aimed" for high positions in the field of education, and Hryshyna, who tried to get the position of Minister of Education and Science in 2020, have common interests. Back in 2022, Odarchenko, together with Hryshyna, opened the Cyberport Institute at the State Biotechnological University. Yulia Hryshyna even traveled to Switzerland to personally negotiate cooperation with international donors.
In addition, MP Hryshyna may still continue to communicate with the fugitive bribe-taker Odarchenko. According to sources close to Hryshyna, she meets with him during foreign business trips. One such meeting could have taken place in the capital of Hungary, Budapest, in September 2025. At that time, Hryshyna went to Budapest allegedly for the opening of a Ukrainian school. However, according to the editorial office, the primary task was a personal meeting with Odarchenko, who is hiding from Ukrainian justice precisely in Hungary.
Thus, it becomes obvious why the SBU Supervisory Board, headed by Hryshyna, a possible accomplice of the fugitive bribe-taker, has not yet initiated the recall of the de facto rector Odarchenko from his post. The UNN editorial office contacted Yulia Hryshyna for comments on the situation around SBU – but received no response. Despite Yulia Hryshyna's official duties as head of the SBU Supervisory Board, "to represent the board in relations with the Ministry of Education and Science, authorities, the public, and the media" – Hryshyna ignores journalists' questions and does not respond.
Does the Ministry of Education and Science and Oksen Lisovyi personally have corrupt ties with Odarchenko?
Why the Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi has not yet dismissed Odarchenko is unknown. The UNN editorial office sent an official journalistic request to the Ministry of Education and Science on October 21, but received no response after 20 days. The Ministry did not explain why it did not terminate the contract with Odarchenko and, in essence, did not execute the court's verdict, which prohibits the bribe-taker from holding leadership positions.
Instead, on November 8, the Ministry of Education and Science extended the powers of acting SBU rector Andriy Kudryashov, whose declaration raised questions from journalists due to the official's alleged failure to include information about his cohabitant and expenses that do not correspond to his declared income. Following the investigation, UNN journalists appealed to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, as the facts presented must be verified and receive an appropriate legal assessment.
Given the widespread corruption network that the fugitive bribe-taker Odarchenko managed to organize, journalists and society may suspect that the decision to dismiss him from the post of SBU rector is being deliberately delayed by the Ministry of Education and Science.
Recall
The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court on October 10, 2025, upheld the verdict of the HACC of November 14, 2024, according to which Odarchenko was sentenced to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property and a ban on holding leadership positions, for attempting to bribe the former head of the State Agency for Restoration, Mustafa Nayyem, with $50,000. Odarchenko offered Nayyem a bribe in cryptocurrency to ensure that the Interdepartmental Working Group made a decision to allocate funds from the fund for liquidating the consequences of armed aggression for the repair of SBU buildings. Odarchenko is currently hiding abroad.