Valerii Kopiika, chair of the Academic Council of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, won the university’s rector election, which took place on October 27.
According to the election commission’s protocol, Valery Kopiyka received 1,973 votes (51.74%), former KNU Vice Rector for Research Anna Tolstanova received 712 (18.62%), 159 (4.16%) for Ksenia Smirnova, former vice rector for international cooperation at KNU, and 77 (2.01%) for Oleksandr Korchenko, first vice rector of the State University of Information and Communication Technologies. Another 130 voters did not support any candidate, and 49 ballots were deemed invalid.
It is noted that 3,105 out of 3,823 voters participated in the election, which amounts to 81.3%.
According to the university’s charter, an election is considered valid if more than 50% of all eligible voters participate.
The candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes cast by those eligible to vote is considered elected as university rector; in the event of a runoff, the candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes cast by those who participated in the election is considered elected.
Thus, Kopiika won the election in the first round.
Kopiyka was born on March 5, 1962, in Kyiv. In 1984, he graduated from the Faculty of International Relations and International Law at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and earned a specialist degree in international relations.
From 1984 to 1986, he worked as a military translator in the Republic of the Congo; from 1986 to 1988, he served as a staff member at the “Znannya” Society in Kyiv; and from 1988 to 1990, he pursued graduate studies at the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
From 1990, he served as an assistant; from 1991, as an associate professor in the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy at the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; and from 1997, as director of the EU European Documentation Center at the Institute of International Relations.
From 2007 to 2008, he served as deputy director for academic affairs at the Institute of International Relations at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; since 2009, he has been the director of the Institute; and since 2021, he has been the director of the Educational and Research Institute of International Relations at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
From April through September 2026, he served as acting rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. In September, he was elected chair of the university’s Academic Council.
In accordance with the requirements of the Law “On Higher Education,” the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine must enter into a five-year contract with the elected rector no later than one month after the date of election.
As previously reported, on March 2, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine announced a competition to fill the position of rector at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The election was originally scheduled for May 27, 2026. However, on May 11, the Ministry of Education and Science postponed the election to October 27.
Former KNU Rector Volodymyr Bugrov was barred from the election after the Kyiv Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv regarding an administrative offense involving the submission of knowingly false information in his declaration.
