Nov. 20, 2025, 5:05 p.m.
(ILLUSTRATION: Intent)
In the summer of 2025, Serhii Markiv (last name changed) from Odesa brought his son to apply to the "Professional College of the National University"Odesa Law Academy". On the institution's website, the family studied the terms of admission and found the address of the admission committee, which worked in one of the buildings of the Odesa Law Academy. All roads led to the so-called "yurka". The son entered the college, and the family was happy.
It was only when they checked the payment details that Serhii suddenly discovered that the college his son had entered had no legal connection to the law school. This meant that his son would have to study at a private, not a public, institution for three and a half years.
When Intent 's journalists began to take an interest in this case, it turned out that Serhiy Markiv was not the only one who found himself in this situation. Therefore, we decided to find out in detail who, how and when "switched" educational institutions and "forgot" to inform the applicants about it.
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Despite the strangeness of the main inspirer and still honorary president of the Odesa Law Academy, Serhii Kivalov, this higher education institution remains one of the best in Ukraine. According to the Osvita.ua resource, the National University "Odesa Law Academy" (NU "OLA") is among the top ten universities in Odesa region and ranks 7th in the 2025 ranking. So there is no shortage of people who want to study here.
Together, many higher education institutions train students from an early age. In February 2022, the National University "OJA " registered a college, which was officially called "Separate Subdivision "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy". Studying at the college for three or three and a half years made it possible to continue studying at the senior courses of the Academy after graduation.
Screenshot of the website of the separate subdivision "Specialized College of the National University "OJA"
The form of ownership is an important point. So are the names of the institutions - that's why we give them in full without abbreviations, and ask you to remember them, because further on the story looks more and more like a game of thimbles rather than an educational process. For clarity, we will even write them down as in a play, so that the similarity of the names is clearly visible:
● National University "Odesa Law Academy" (USREOU 20933314) - hereinafter referred to as the Academy
● The Classical University "Odesa Law Academy" (EDRPOU 43021411) - hereinafter referred to as the University;
Separate subdivision "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy" (SE FC "NU "OJA") EDRPOU 44848067;
● Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy" / Academic Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy" (AFC ONUA) EDRPOU 45257286.
So, the first enrollment of students to the "Separate Subdivision" Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy" took place in 2022, and in September 2024, the activities of this institution were terminated. What happened to its students will be revealed later.
In parallel, another college with a very similar name appeared in October 2023: "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy". Important: without the phrase "separate subdivision". Another important thing is that it is privately owned.
The founder of this college is the Classical University "Odesa Law Academy", which is a private educational institution and has several other colleges in its structure, for example, a medical college. The sole owner of the University is 26-year-old Serhii Kosianenko.
That is, except for the phrase "separate subdivision", the name of the institution is the same as that of the state college of the Academy. Moreover, as Intent has found out, despite different founders, both institutions use the same premises - the building of Odesa Law Academy No. 5 at 7 B Akademichna Street.
The premises of the colleges are the same. PHOTO: Intent
However, in April 2025, the private college changed its name. Well, as a name, rather, the words in it and now it is called "ONUAA Academic Vocational College". The actual abbreviation is not deciphered here, even in the register of legal entities, but can be easily read as "Odesa National Law Academy".
The College's social media pages also look like a subdivision of the Academy. For example, on the institution's Facebook page, joint posts of the College and the Academy are published through each other. Announcements about open days include the address of the main building of the Academy, and the events are often attended by the former head and president of the Academy Serhii Kivalov and the current rector Oleh Todoschak.
Oleh Todoschak (center) on 10/18/2025. Screenshot: Instagram of the ONIA
Serhii Kivalov at the ONUAA event, 01.11.2025. Screenshot: Facebook / ONUAA
Do you remember our Serhiy Markiv, who found out about the substitution only when he received the bill? Well, he is convinced that he is not the only "inattentive parent". He described in detail how his son's admission to the college looked like and says that he carefully studied this issue on the college's website, back then it was the "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy".
"We looked at the admission rules on the website. Everything looked normal, so we didn't even have any suspicions. In addition, the admission committee was located in a large building of the law academy (2 Akademichna Street - ed.). None of the committee members warned us that we were applying to a private college. I didn't even doubt that it was a state institution, so I signed both contracts - for educational services and tuition," says Markiv.
He was surprised later when he received the bill.
"The commission gave us the payment details, and when I paid the tuition fee, I found out that according to the EDRPOU code, the founder of this "vocational college" is the private Classical University "Odesa Law Academy". I think that half of the parents and students do not even realize that they have found themselves in a private college instead of a state college," Serhiy added.
We decided to check the words of the concerned father. An international journalist called the college's admissions office and introduced herself as the mother of a future student.
Journalist: Good afternoon. Is this the "Academic Vocational College"?
College representative: This is the best college in Ukraine.
Ж: A law academy college, right?
PC: Yes, yes, yes.
Then the "mother" began to explain that her "daughter" wanted to enter this college in order to study at the Odesa Law Academy in the future. The employee did not say a word that the woman was mistaken about the status of the educational institution. On the contrary, he encouraged her to believe that it was a subdivision of the Academy. The journalist once again emphasized the importance of the possibility of further education at the Academy.
Ж: It's just that we were thinking of yours, because you are a state college, a subdivision of the Law Academy...
PC: Yes, yes...
W:...because then my daughter wants to continue her studies at the law academy.
PC: I see. You can enter the college of the International Humanitarian University. They are currently accepting students. And after the first year, you can transfer to us.
We had the strong impression that the representative of the admissions committee not only did not try to explain the difference between the institutions, but also avoided it.
Later, we also asked several students where they were studying and their answer was: "at the College of Law".
The situation with the college's website is also confusing. When we searched for "professional college of the Odesa Law Academy" in a search engine, we got several websites:
Screenshots of college clone sites
Clicking on the links, we ended up on almost identical sites. It is difficult to understand that one of the sites belongs to a state college and the other to a private one at first: the director on all sites is PhD in Law, Associate Professor Oleksandr Melnyk, and the deputy director for educational work is PhD in History, a teacher-methodologist of the highest category Oleksandr Demchenko.
The teaching staff at all sites is also almost identical.
However, according to the information on the website at fk.onua.edu.ua, we saw that the last admission campaign took place in 2023, the website uk.onua.edu.ua announced admission in 2024, the website fknuoua.od.ua announced admission for 2025, and the website ak-coledg.od.ua has already announced admission for 2026.
In addition, on the website fknuoua.od.ua, in the tab "Applicant 2025", the user was redirected to the social media page of the institution, which indicated the "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy".
Screenshot of the website
By the way, this site, where Serhii and his son were looking for information on admission, is currently down, and the site ak-coledg.od.ua is operating instead. They are similar in design, like twins.
Screenshots of the sites
So for parents, it really looks like a trap: because of the design of the websites and the silence of the admissions officers, they are sure that their child has been admitted and is studying at a state college under the brand of a well-known university, but in fact they find themselves in a private one.
The only website that most likely belongs to a state college may be the one with the address fk.onua.edu.ua. After all, it is the only one that contains the details of tuition fees with the EDRPOU code of the National University "Odesa Law Academy".
Screenshot of the website
The website uk.onua.edu.ua contained the details of a private college, while the websites fknuoua.od.ua and ak-coledg.od.ua did not contain any information about the details at all.
It should be noted that after the Intent contacted the college and the Academy for comments, only one website is active - ak-coledg.od.ua.
For clarification, Intent turned to the former director of the separate subdivision "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy" and the current acting director of the "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy" Oleksandr Melnyk. However, he initially refused to answer the question verbally, instead advising us to send a request.
In response to the request, the management of the private college provided a link to the news article "Important! Clarification of certain issues of organization of the activities of the ONUAA Academic Professional College", which was allegedly published on 25.08.2025 on the college's website. However, when Intent examined the website of the private college, there was nothing of the kind: On 07/23/2025, the college published the ranking list, and on 08/28/2025, it published the invitation to the freshman initiation. There was no news or announcements between these two messages. That is, the clarification appeared on the website retroactively and after the Intent's appeal.
Screenshot of the screen recording of the ONUCA website
In fact, these are not announcements, but answers to our questions. Therefore, we will provide them in full as a response to our request.
Why was the activity of the separate subdivision of the Professional College of the National University of Odesa Law Academy terminated?
The structure of the National University "Odesa Law Academy" did have a separate subdivision "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy". However, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Professional Higher Education" and the recommendations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, it was liquidated at the National University "OJA". Subsequently, the Academic Professional College of the National University of Law was established as a separate educational institution of corporate ownership."
On what grounds does the ONUA use the property of the National University? How much did they pay in 2024-25?
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine granted permission to lease certain premises of the National University "Odesa Law Academy". After that, the Academic Professional College of the ONJA entered into a lease agreement with the Regional Office of the State Property Fund of Ukraine in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions on the use of such premises for the organization of the educational process."
What happened to the students who entered the separate subdivision of the ONUJA Professional College in 2023?
Students and teachers of the liquidated structural subdivision of the National University "ULA" who expressed a desire to continue their studies/work at the Academic Professional College of the National University "ULA" voluntarily transferred to the newly established educational institution in accordance with the procedure established by the current legislation. However, today the vast majority of applicants are students who have entered our College in recent years. It is worth noting that no student studies at the Academic Vocational College of the National Law University at the expense of the state budget."
The same name of the institution, the same director and teaching staff, even the websites of the colleges look the same, and the college's Facebook page mentions the institution's affiliation with the law academy - how do you explain this?
Regarding possible misunderstandings about the name of the College, we emphasize that the Internet may contain links to the outdated website of the Separate Subdivision "Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy". Despite the removal of the site and sending a corresponding request to Google, it temporarily continues to be displayed in the browser."
However, it was after Intent contacted the college that the clone sites stopped working. Today, only one of them is still active.
While the site is "temporarily" displayed, the parents of 14-year-olds are investing money in their education on a regular basis. A year of schooling costs 38900 UAH. And if our Serhiy Markiv is right, and half of them are not paying for what they imagine in the future, we will tell you who is paying.
By the way, according to the Opendatabot service for monitoring the registration data of Ukrainian companies, the college's revenue in 2024 amounted to UAH 21.5 million, and its profit was UAH 16.8 million. It should be noted that Oleksandr Melnyk later commented to Intent and, when asked about the college's profit, insisted that since the institution has the status of a non-profit organization, 16.8 million is not profit.
Opendatabot screenshot
We would like to remind you that the founder of the Professional College of the National University "Odesa Law Academy", which is now called "Academic Professional College of ONU", is the legal entity "Classical University "Odesa Law Academy". Its sole owner is Sergii Kosianenko. That is, he is the sole beneficiary of both educational institutions.
We do not in any way deny the managerial skills and talents of Sergii Kosianenko. However, there is another important piece of information about him that explains his interest in the Odesa school: He is the grandson of Serhiy Kivalov. He is the son of Tetiana Kivalova and former prosecutor Oleh Kosianenko, from whom she divorced in 2010.
We asked Serhiy Kosianenko why he gave his college the same name as the state college of the Academy. Was it a conscious move to associate with the Academy? On what grounds does his college use the Academy's training facilities?
However, we have not received any answers. Of course, the editorial board is ready to publish Serhiy Kosianenko's response after the publication of this article. While we are waiting for it, we will tell you more about him.
The album's caption: "With my dearest and favorite ones - my wife Natalia and grandson Serhiy. The time spent together is priceless!" PHOTO: Facebook/Serhii Kivalov
The College and the Classical University are not the only educational institutions that Serhiy Kivalov's grandson owns or has owned. At the age of 20, Sergei Kosyanenko became the founder of Moscow State University, and now he is a co-owner of this private institution. And at the age of almost 22, Serhiy founded the International Academic School - Odesa (IAS Odesa), but the owner of this institution is currently his mother, Tetiana Kivalova.
According to his LinkedIn page, the 26-year-old education entrepreneur is based in the United Kingdom. Kosianenko received his higher education both in Ukraine, where he was a student at the Odesa Law Academy, and in the UK, where he studied at King's College London and the University of Essex.
Serhii Kosianenko. PHOTO: linkedin/Serhii Kosianenko
According to the British register of legal entities, Serhiy Kosianenko is currently the founder and director of the International Humanitarian College London. In August 2023, he registered London education services limited. This is an educational company that provides tutoring services for children with different educational needs. In addition, he invested in real estate management companies - Holland park villas management company Limited and Asto global limited.
Sergey Kivalov's grandson actively cooperates with the family. For example, among the founders of Asto global limited is his stepfather, Oleg Bondar, the husband of Sergey Kivalov's daughter Tatiana Kivalova. And until January 2023, Tatiana Kivalova herself owned up to 50% of the shares.
Mother and son are also co-owners of Ukrainian companies. For example, they took turns being listed as founders of the International Academic School - Odesa and the International Education Company.
As a reminder, Tetiana Kivalova is a former deputy of the Odesa City Council from the banned Party of Regions. She is a graduate of the Odesa State Law Academy. She holds a doctorate in law.
But the International Humanitarian University, where Serhiy Kosianenko has been the sole owner since 2019, was inherited from his grandfather's old partners. This company was registered in 2005. At that time, its beneficiaries were Iryna Orekhova and Golden Gate Bay Limited, a company owned by Oleksandr Suvorov, a citizen of Kazakhstan. Later, the company was registered in the Bahamas, and in 2016, Iryna Orekhova was replaced by Konstantin Hromovenko.
She was the head of the Kyiv organization of the Ukrainian Maritime Party, whose leader is Kivalov himself. She was his assistant when he was an MP. In addition, for some time, Orekhova was the owner of the famous "Kivalov Castle" on the coast of Odesa.
And Konstantin Hromovenko headed the Odesa branch of Kivalov's Ukrainian Sea Party and is currently the rector of the International Humanitarian University.
The Golden Gate Bay Limited company itself was the founder of many companies and institutions associated with the Odesa Law Academy, during the time of Serhiy Kivalov. As Intent found out, from 1998 to 2008, Serhiy Kivalov himself was the director of the company. In 2011, it was Iryna Orekhova, and since 2013, according to Pandora Papers, Tatiana Kivalova has been the owner. The company has been repeatedly mentioned in the media in connection with the dealings of Serhiy Kivalov.
It should be noted that in February 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decree on the consolidation of the Odesa National University named after I. Mechnikov(ONU Mechnikov) through the merger of the National University "Odesa Law Academy". At the same time, the rights of the academic staff will be preserved, but the president - Serhiy Kivalov, the rector - Oleh Todoschak and the vice-rectors - Minas Arakelyan, Oleksandr Ushkanov, Halyna Ulyanova, Valentyn Fedorov will be left behind, so to speak. Therefore, Kivalov may lose not only his influence on the Academy, but also on all its subdivisions, which will also be under the management of the Technikov National University.
The law academy was outraged by this decision and called on the government to cancel the reorganization of the university and dismiss Education Minister Oksen Lisovyi.
In his turn, Lisovyi said that Serhiy Kivalov had no moral right to remain in education and reminded that the Academy was once a part of the Technikov University.
"Returning the Academy to the structure of a classical university is a logical and symbolic step. After all, this is the environment that shapes the worldview of future lawyers. However, the most important thing is not only the form, but also the system of values that prevails in the institution and is cultivated by its leadership," the Education Minister said.
In 2009, Kivalov received the Order of Friendship from Putin, and in 2013, he received the Pushkin Medal for his promise to make Russian the second official language in Ukraine. PHOTO: rosmedia
In March, the Kyiv District Administrative Court ruled to suspend the reorganization of the National University "Odesa Law Academy" until the end of the trial.
When the text was being prepared for publication, the Academy's management and the ONUJA JFC contacted the editorial office to provide a comment. In principle, they repeated the answers that were published on the college's website. However, there were some interesting points. For example, Oleksandr Melnyk, Director of the ONUAA Academic Professional College, explained why they chose the same name as the state college when registering a private college:
"It was already a brand, everyone knew it was a professional college. And when, like now, it turned out that we were misleading someone... We have already decided to change the name," he said.
The Academy said that they closed the separate subdivision "FC NU OYA" due to the recommendations of the Ministry of Education:
"The Ministry of Education has introduced a trend of modernizing higher education and in the future it has provided for the separation of subdivisions and the creation of separate institutions. We were faced with the fact that the Ministry of Education did not sign the staffing table, did not approve changes to the charter, and delayed salaries for employees. Therefore, it all came together and it happened that the functioning of the professional college within the university structure became impossible," explained Halyna Ulyanova, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the National University of Legal Education.
At the same time, the Academy confirmed that they had not received an official document on the need to reorganize the college.
Also, such changes did not affect other structural units of the Academy. They believe that, for example, the Kryvyi Rih Law School and the Mykolaiv Law School are faculties of the Academy rather than independent institutions.
The research was conducted with the support of the program "Stronger Together: Media and Democracy" program implemented by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in partnership with the Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine (ARPU) and the Norwegian Media Business Association (MBL) with support from Norway. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the program partners.
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