There are two defendants in the case: the Cabinet of Ministers and the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SCAU). Usov asks the court to declare unlawful the Cabinet of Ministers' order of 16 November 2020, by which he was removed from his post. The formal basis was Article 87 of the law on civil service. After that, Mykhailo Leva, a participant in the 2019 competition, was appointed acting head of the agency.
Usov held the position for a short time. By an order of 24 January 2020, he was appointed for five years with a six-month probationary period, and before his removal he had worked for nine months. Formally, he became head of the agency through a competition, the victory in which the Cabinet announced on 27 December 2019. But the path to that victory began earlier, and without it it is difficult to understand why the lawsuit against the government looks so sharp.
Competition amid a criminal case
In the autumn of 2019, the SCAU was left without a head: on 3 November 2019, Pavlo Dehtyarenko was dismissed, and the government announced a competition. The selection took place in late November at the National Agency for Civil Service (NACS), with 18 candidates. At that time, the Minister of Economy was Tymofiy Milovanov. Taftai, the future head of the agency, was a finalist in the same competition.
A shadow fell on Usov's candidacy through his companies. He founded Gutenbergz, which in 2011, with partners, began producing interactive books and electronic textbooks, and in 2013–2014 launched Kwambio, a startup for 3D printing with ceramics. In 2014, the project won the IDCEE competition, then entered the TechStars accelerator in Boston. The accelerator helps young companies grow quickly and attract investment. In 2017, Kwambio raised $500,000 from Empire State Capital Partners and Impulse VC, and the latter, according to several media outlets, is linked to Roman Abramovich.
The main legal risk arose from the textbook story. According to 368.media and Antikor, in 2018–2019, tenders of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration were won by the company Electronic Solutions, a dealer of Gutenbergz, which received 12.9 million hryvnias, and in total, according to the publications' calculations, from 15 to 24 million hryvnias were paid for access to textbooks that, under the Ministry of Education, should have been free. In June 2019, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) opened proceedings in this case. On 25 November 2019, a court seized Gutenbergz's accounts, and on 17 December of the same year, as TSN reported, searches were conducted at Usov's home and office. This happened the night before the competition final and before the appointment. There is no verdict in the case.
Five months in office
In February 2020, Usov was introduced to the SCAU staff. In the first weeks, he gave many interviews. In March, he spoke with UNIAN, in May with he talked about the project with the Alcantara spaceport in Brazil and about Russia's pressure on the Brazilian government, and in June he answered questions from Roman Skrypin for TSN. Then came the phrase that many remembered: "was, is, and may cease to be."
was, is, and may cease to be
The work took place under constant pressure. On 23 June 2020, the SBI conducted 16 searches in Odesa in the case of school textbooks worth 13 million hryvnias, including at the home of Deputy Mayor Vuhelman, as Antikor reported. In July, more than 100 people's deputies demanded Usov's dismissal. The appeal, addressed to Economy Minister Ihor Petrashko, was made public by lawyer Masi Nayem. The Prime Minister at the time was Denys Shmyhal, and Usov was appointed under Oleksiy Honcharuk.
In the autumn, against the backdrop of Ukraine signing the Artemis agreements on 12 November 2020, Usov continued his public work. On 20 November, he gave a long interview to Babel. At the same time, on 16 November, the government adopted the order of removal. On the same day, AIN wrote about wage arrears at Kwambio, a company Usov founded and in which, as in the SCAU itself, he remained a public figure.
Now the question of the legality of the removal will be decided by the court. Usov's lawsuit has been registered in the Kyiv District Administrative Court, and it is there that the lawfulness of the 16 November 2020 order will be examined.
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