Feast during the plague: how the leadership of the State Biotechnological University receives bonuses despite salary arrears

The leadership of the State Biotechnological University receives monthly bonuses despite a ban related to salary arrears of over UAH 20 million to the staff, writes UNN.

According to UNN sources, after Andriy Kudryashov, a protégé of former MP-bribe-taker Andriy Odarchenko, took over the management of the SBU, the university's leadership receives monthly bonuses, which ultimately amount to several hundred thousand hryvnias, accrued in violation of current legislation.

Almost the entire management staff of the State Biotechnological University, with the exception of a few people, are trusted associates of Odarchenko, who still remains the rector of the SBU despite a legally binding guilty verdict. As the UNN interlocutor said, it is the team of the former MP-bribe-taker, starting from 2022, that receives illegal payments.

The minister does not reward Kudryashov, but money flows like a river

It should be noted that only the acting rector of the SBU, Andriy Kudryashov, is not awarded bonuses, as his payments are approved directly by the Minister of Education and Science, in accordance with the contract with the Ministry of Education and Science.

This is also confirmed by the data from Kudryashov's salary statement, which is at UNN's disposal. For example, over the past 9 months of this year, he was accrued amounts ranging from 25,221 hryvnias in January to 27,576 hryvnias in September. He received the most in June – 30,553 hryvnias. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Minister of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi, does not reward Kudryashov.

However, the question of what wealth the acting rector of the SBU is luxuriating in and giving expensive gifts to his cohabitant remains open. As does the question of why he does not include data about Margarita Pavytska in his income declaration.

Luxury amidst debts: who gets the "bonuses"

At the same time, the rest of the management staff from the orbit of former MP-bribe-taker Andriy Odarchenko consistently receive monthly bonuses of several tens of thousands of hryvnias. This is possible because the head of the university, and in this case, the acting rector of the SBU, has the right to appoint such payments.

For example, the income statement of the acting head of the academic council, Valeriy Mykhailov, which is at UNN's disposal, turned out to be very eloquent. In January of this year, he received 38,839 hryvnias. As is known, the first month is usually not subject to bonuses.

But already in February, Mykhailov was accrued 47,471 hryvnias. In May, the payment was already 53,815 hryvnias, and in September – 56,338 hryvnias. So, obviously, Mykhailov, like the rest of the fugitive rector's team, regularly receives bonuses contrary to the law.

Time for law enforcement to react

It should be noted that current legislation, in particular the Budget Code, directly prohibits the accrual of bonuses if the institution has salary arrears. In the situation with the State Biotechnological University, such arrears exist and significantly increased in 2022. Currently, it amounts to over UAH 20 million. As UNN previously wrote, this situation arose due to corruption at the SBU, related to hidden land leases, falsification of data on harvested crops, inflated prices during tender procurements, and laundering of funds through companies controlled by Odarchenko's people.

It is possible that in order to process the relevant payments through the treasury, the SBU management indicates bonuses as an inflated basic salary, otherwise, payment refusals would have been received. Obviously, this situation requires separate attention from law enforcement, as it is not normal when the staff does not receive salaries, and the management accrues tens of thousands in bonuses for themselves.

Recall

The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court on October 10, 2025, upheld the verdict of the HACC from 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 so that he would ensure the Interdepartmental Working Group's decision to allocate funds from the fund for liquidating the consequences of armed aggression for the repair of SBU buildings. Currently, Odarchenko is hiding abroad.