In Odessa, a City Council member took over as head of the Filatov Institute

Levon Nikoghosyan, a member of the Odessa City Council, has been appointed director of the V.P. Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy.

He announced his appointment on social media.

According to Nikoghosyan, the new position is a great honor and responsibility for him.

“For me, this is not just a new challenge and a new position. It is a great honor and, at the same time, a great responsibility—to lead one of Ukraine’s most renowned and oldest medical institutions, which has a long history, a strong scientific tradition, and great potential,” he wrote.

The newly appointed director also thanked Oleksandr Usenko, First Vice President of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine and Director of the O.O. Shalimov National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology, for his trust.

Until November 17, 2025, Nikoghosyan headed the Health Department of the Odesa City Council—a position he had held since 2021, when he was appointed following the dismissal of the previous director, Olena Yakimenko.

On November 17, 2025, Nikoghosyan was dismissed from his position by mutual agreement. This occurred shortly after Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov was stripped of hisUkrainian citizenship, causing him to lose his position as mayor.

Prior to his appointment to the department, Nikoghosyan had managed the municipalenterprise “Odesa Farm” and headed the Association of Pharmacists of the Odesa Region.

It was during his tenure at “Odessa Farm” that Nikoghosyan found himself at the center of a public scandal: at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacies in his chain sold medical masks at inflated prices and later began distributing them for free as part of an election campaign.

Nikoghosyan also remains a member of the Odessa City Council representing the “Trust the Deeds” party, which was led by former Odessa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov.

Ірина Глухова