Ivan Baloga considers Nikolaichuk’s appointment to interim UzhNU rector is a political decision

The head of the Regional Council Ivan Baloga expressed his position about the situation around UzhNU during the Academic Council meeting of Uzhgorod National University, which was held at UzhNU Faculty of Economics today. And quite sharply expressed. In particular, he told who is behind the new rector appointment, who wants to reorganize the Transcarpathian universities and Alexand Ledyda’s participation in these events.

First of all Baloga said that Nikolaichuk’s appointment is political. ‘My colleague, the Deputy Regional Council, now the regional governor, demanded Mr. Vegesh’s dismissal in the ministry for the last two years. But, as we can see, the latter successfully refined his term on the rector’s position. However, now we know who initiated these verifications in cooperation with Fedir Vashchuk at the Uzhgorod National University.’

The head of the Regional Council also recalled that 98 regional council deputies supported UzhNU staff and appealed to the ministry with the request to appoint to the position of the rector Mykola Vegesh, ‘but, the deputies and staff position was ignored. The Minister chose the institutions’ representatives candidacy – and this is his right. Currently, it is up to the Ministry, which also has to finance the expenditures on the most important things of the establishment. If money is not to be given, it would mean that Vitalii Nikolaichuk was left face to face with the problems’.

The head of the Regional Council recalled that more than two million hryvnia were allocated on the material and technical basis of UzhNU improvement at the time of Education Ministry Stanislav Nikolaienko. Overall, more than 18,5 million hryvnia were involved in the institution from the different sources.

Ivan Baloga also spoke on the eventual UzhNU reorganization, because the new institution leadership repeatedly stated on these plans. He believes that it is the preparation to the Uzhgorod National University unification with the Transcarpathian State University. ‘Now, unfortunately, the situation is such that the elections of the UzhNU rector are not yet assigned and students will receive diplomas, where will stand the signature of the acting rector. This all is the political intrigues consequence of two or more people. In the first place, Mr. Vashchuk who plans to create a new business project with the support of the governor. The first deputy minister (referred to Yevgen Sulyma) became this idea distributor. All the reorganizations must be carried out after the legal election of the rector’, – said Baloga.

The head of the council advised to the new UzhNU leadership to show not only the negative thing of the previous leader, but also positive one, which were quite a lot. In particular, the new department’s opening especially the dental one and the new library of UzhNU. ‘Such facility as the library, to which creation Ledyda is not related, has none university of the region. I did not congratulated Vitalii Ivanovych with appointment understanding that he will have a lot of work. The new rector had to gather the new team, but as we can see, at the post of the first pro-rector was appointed the person who was losing the courts on the property. It is necessary perhaps to pick the team that has to develop rather than ‘break’ the institution. It was about the institution directors’ election. To my mind, this is the dismemberment of the university and its preparation to the unification with TSU. Unfortunately, nowadays the establishment’s management policy is to sling mud on the predecessor. If the minister suggested his own candidacy, than he has to help him. I sincerely wish to Uzhgorod National University to retain its brand’, appealed the head of the Regional Council Ivan Baloga to the UzhNU Academic Council.