You're reading: Rich property developer sets up scholarship fund for students

Another magnate is following in the footsteps of billionaire Victor Pinchuk by financing graduate-level education for a new generation of Ukrainians.

Shopping mall developer Garik Korogodskiy, 54, has joined the administration of Kyiv’s International Institute of Management in launching Generation.UA, a business administration master’s degree program with a focus on public administration.

The first class met on April 20 to begin a 26-month curriculum modeled after the Harvard Business School’s hybrid master’s program. Through Generation.UA, Korogodskiy sponsoring 35 student scholarships worth an average of Hr 260,000.

“I am dealing with government officials and noticed that they are weak in many questions,” Korogodskiy told the Kyiv Post. “From there came the idea to prepare a strong team that would replace the old officials.”

The co-owner of one of Kyiv’s biggest malls called Dream Town, and the builder of the Globus shopping mall in central Kyiv, Korogodskiy is Ukraine’s 94th richest man, according to Ukraine’s Focus magazine. His net worth is estimated at $60 million. The businessman is married and has four children, one of whom works in the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Another magnate is following in the footsteps of billionaire Victor Pinchuk by financing graduate-level education for a new generation of Ukrainians.

Garik Korogodskiy

Korogodskiy’s partners, Aleksand Melamud and Oleh Krapivin, whose fortunes are also estimated at $60 million each, run Vita Veritas, a real estate company.

“We have very high ambitions. We want to prepare the future president, premier and ministers,” Korogodskiy said during a March 16 Interfax press conference. “There will be no children of famous people. This guarantees us the shift of the approach to governance.”

Korogodskiy wants to train future public servants who will transform the government system and uproot corruption.

“This is our response to current demands,” says Iryna Tyhomyrova, president of the educational institute. “We are saying that we need new people in the government’s management.”

The initiative drew 700 applications. Applicants had to be 24-32 years old, Ukrainian citizens and with at least two years of administrative work experience.

“These will be people who will, on one hand, understand business, and on the other, understand how government works,” Tyhomyrova says.

A similar program called World Wide Studies was launched by billionaire pipe maker Victor Pinchuk. Now in its sixth year, it has invested more than $1.8 million since its founding, according to Dennis Kazvan, 39, communications director of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

The program provides up to 60 percent of funding, or no more than $50,000, for Ukrainians wishing to pursue a master’s degree in any of the top 200 global universities with the exception of a master’s in business administration. So far, more than 80 Ukrainians have earned the scholarship, with the majority of graduates returning to Ukraine to work.

“One of the main missions was to form a new generation of Ukrainians, the change makers of tomorrow,” Kazvan says.

Among World Wide Studies most visible alumni is Oleksiy Ryabchyn, a parliament member and chair of the energy-efficiency subcommittee. He earned his master’s in innovation and sustainability for international development at the University of Sussex.

Along with successfully campaigning for parliament, he has authored more than 50 articles for the Washington Post on Ukraine.

The program also supported Alyona Shkrum, another member of parliament, who studied at the University of Cambridge and University of Paris Pantheon Sorbonne.

Law has been the most popular field of study, though World Wide Studies is promoting studies in other areas that need development in Ukraine, such as agriculture, ecology, public administration, aerospace engineering and alternative energies.

About 100 grant applications are submitted each year that are then reviewed by a selection committee. In 2014, seven were designated to earn grants.

Several scholarship programs exist for the enterprising Ukrainian student who wants to get an education abroad.

Kyiv Post staff writer Ilya Timtchenko can be reached at [email protected].