Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says the Cabinet of Ministers has appointed Serhiy Shkarlet acting Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.
"We're appointing the acting Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine and the duties will be performed by Serhiy Shkarlet," he said at a government meeting on June 25.
Shkarlet is a Doctor of Economics, professor, and was granted the title "Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine." He had been rector of Chernihiv National University of Technology since May 2010, the Novoye Vremya news outlet wrote on June 25.
The newly appointed official declared UAH 513,000 (US$19,250) in income for 2019. He also indicated UAH 70,000 (US$2,627) and US$30,000, while his wife declared UAH 15,000 (US$563) and US$32,000 in cash.
Shkarlet is not a real estate owner, while his wife owns a 76.9-square-meter apartment in the city of Chernihiv.
The official has two cars: a 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser 200 and a 2013 Mitsubishi Pajero Wagon. His wife owns a 2012 Ford Kuga Titanium.
There were accusations of plagiarism in Shkarlet's works, which he denies. He also believes that external independent testing for school graduates in Ukraine should remain in place, but he does not rule out its format may change.
As UNIAN reported, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on June 17 registered draft resolution No. 3675 to appoint the rector of Chernihiv National University of Technology to the post of Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.
On June 18, lawmaker from the ruling Servant of the People Party Oleksandr Kachura said that President Volodymyr Zelensky had asked the Servant of the People parliamentary faction to back Shkarlet's candidacy for the education minister's post.
On June 19, Kachura announced that there were not enough votes in his faction for Shkarlet's appointment.
The appointment of an acting minister does not require the vote in parliament.
According to Ukrainian MP (from the Servant of the People faction) Iryna Vereshchuk, the Verkhovna Rada's relevant committee had questions about the alleged presence of plagiarism in Shkarlet's doctoral thesis and about his "political bias," as, according to some media reports, he had allegedly been a member of the then Party of Regions.
The Education Minister's post had been vacant since March 4, 2020, after the Oleksiy Honcharuk government was disbanded and the then Education Minister Hanna Novosad refused to work in the new government. Prior to Shkarlet's appointment, the post was occupied by acting minister Yuriy Polyukhovych and then by acting minister Lubomyra Mandziy.
