The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) has completed a scheduled inspection of the activities of the institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES), revealing significant corruption risks. In particular, it concerns data manipulation in the Unified State Electronic Database on Education (UEDB) and illegal use of the property of educational institutions.
One of the most serious violations was the fictitious enrollment of more than 5.7 thousand applicants for the third level of higher education (postgraduate studies) in the period from 2021 to 2023. According to the audit, about 150 educational and scientific institutions entered unreliable data into the EDEBO without the approval of the Ministry of Education and Science. This coincided with the update of government resolutions that provide for a deferral from mobilization upon submission of a relevant certificate, confirmed by EDEBO data.
This manipulation of the database was likely aimed at obtaining illegal deferrals from mobilization, which is a violation of the law and opens the door to corruption schemes.
In addition, the NACP identified a number of corruption risks in the management of state-owned objects, in particular real estate and land plots owned by educational institutions. Numerous cases of illegal alienation of property and abuse in the transfer of real estate for lease or use to business entities were identified. This creates corruption risks of satisfying the private interests of officials of the Ministry of Education and Science and heads of educational institutions, who may receive undue benefits for assisting in the alienation of property.
Among the main corruption practices recorded by the NACP are:
- illegal privatization of real estate of educational institutions;
- rental of property with subsequent use for purposes not related to the educational process;
- transfer of land plots to educational institutions under the guise of "joint activities";
- concluding investment agreements that provide for the development of the territory of educational institutions.
These violations create serious corruption risks related to the private interest of managers and officials who may receive undue benefit through assistance in the illegal alienation of property for the benefit of interested parties.
The NACP emphasizes the need to strengthen control over the activities of the Ministry of Education and Science and ensure transparency in the management of state resources.
