Usov is known as an entrepreneur whom the industry knew before it knew him as an official. In 2011, he and his partners founded Gutenbergz, a company that made interactive books and electronic textbooks. In 2013–2014 came Kwambio, a startup for 3D printing with ceramics: in 2014 the project won IDCEE and then entered the TechStars Boston accelerator. The competition for the post of head of the SSAU took place in late November 2019, with 18 candidates vying for the place; on 27 December the Cabinet announced Usov as the winner. By an order dated 24 January 2020, he was appointed for five years with a six-month probation period. He was introduced to the agency's staff on 5 February.
Searches in the first days
The searches Usov recalls began on his second day on the job, but not at his own premises. Investigators came to the Kyiv Arsenal plant over old cases. According to Usov, over 15 years under all heads of the agency, about 90 percent of the plant's territories and premises were alienated. Searches at his own home and office took place earlier, in December 2019, before his appointment. AIN mentioned a search warrant in the Gutenbergz case dated 17 December 2019, and TSN reported that the searches took place on the night before the competition final.
The State Bureau of Investigation's criminal case concerns textbooks supplied through Gutenbergz. As 368.media wrote, the company's accounts were frozen in November 2019, and a dealer of the company received 12.9 million hryvnias under tenders from the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration. No charges have been publicly brought against Usov personally, and there is no verdict in the case.
A conflict that, he says, did not exist
Usov denied a conflict with Deputy Prime Minister Oleh Urusky: "I never heard any complaints about my work from the minister." According to his version, the corporate reform at the agency never started, but he received support from the heads of enterprises. He named Serhiy Voit, director of Yuzhmash, and Oleksandr Dehtiarev of the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau as his allies.
Usov sees the reason for his resignation elsewhere. According to him, his plan did not align with the plans of the president and government, which are building a rigid vertical in defence and space, and an independent position became superfluous. Pressure on the agency was nothing new: in July 2020, as Antikor wrote, more than 100 MPs demanded Usov's dismissal, and their appeal was addressed to Economy Minister Ihor Petrashko.
The results Usov himself listed
Top of the achievements is membership in the Moon Village Association. On 12 November Ukraine joined the Artemis Accords, and Usov included this decision in his list. He also cited a five-year cooperation programme with China and claimed that the Cyclone-4 rocket is 98 percent ready. According to him, the Kurs system provided 60 percent of dockings in history. The inventory of assets, by his figures, yielded $250 million, and Yuzhmash has no wage arrears.
The loudest item was the Lybid satellite. Usov said that a British investor through Pierce Sat is ready to invest $100 million in the project. Context matters here: a $292 million loan for Lybid was issued in 2009 and repaid by the state in 2019. In 2020, nothing was allocated for this project, so the investor Usov mentions became the main argument in his favour rather than the result of a budget decision.
"That's when I truly got down to work"
The question of what will happen to the programme concept remained open. The document went to the Ministry for Strategic Industries, but the budget committee refused funding. Usov links this to the same political line he described as the reason for his dismissal.
On 16 November the Cabinet dismissed Usov under Article 87 of the law on civil service. Mykhailo Lev, a participant in the 2019 competition, was entrusted with performing the duties of head of the agency.
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