Usov took charge of the SSAU by government order on January 24, 2020: he was appointed for five years with a six-month probation period. His predecessor, Pavlo Dehtyarenko, was dismissed on November 3, 2019, and Usov won the competition for the post. Before government service, he had already founded private companies. In 2011, together with partners, he founded Gutenbergz, which developed interactive books and electronic textbooks, and in 2013–2014 he launched Kwambio, a company engaged in 3D printing with ceramics.
Space Without Experience
Usov began the interview with Skrypin by admitting that he had never worked in the space industry before. Comparing space to the technologies he was familiar with, he said: 'Space is even more complex than 3D printers. And a few people in a garage won't build a rocket.' When asked about the fate of Ukrainian space, he replied 'was, is, and may cease to be' and called this the most realistic scenario after four months in the position. TSN in its piece referred to Usov as the newly appointed head of the agency, so the assessment came from a man who was just entering the industry.
Most of the conversation concerned the past. Usov denied that Roman Abramovich was an investor in Kwambio. TSN recalled that in 2017 the company received $500,000 from the Impulse VC fund, which Russian media link to Abramovich. Usov himself admitted that Kwambio had never officially worked with either Elon Musk and Tesla or NASA. Before this admission, the company had won the IDCEE competition in 2014 and been accepted into the TechStars Boston program. TechStars is an accelerator that for several months provides startups with mentors and investment preparation, and participation in it is often seen as a sign of attention to a project rather than confirmation of its commercial success.
Gutenbergz and Tenders
TSN disputed Usov's claim that there were no cases against him and that Gutenbergz had not participated in tenders. The publication recalled the proceedings opened by the State Bureau of Investigations in June 2019, the publisher's intermediary in bidding, the company Electronic Solution, and the seizure of Gutenbergz's accounts authorized in November 2019. As 368.media wrote, in tenders held by the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration for access to textbooks that were supposed to be free under the Ministry of Education, the intermediary received 12.9 million hryvnias.
Usov linked the searches at his home and office to the competition: according to him, they took place the night before the final stage. The search warrant in the Gutenbergz case, as AIN wrote, was issued on December 17, 2019, that is, before Usov's appointment as head of the agency. Neither TSN nor 368.media press charges against him, and there is no verdict in the case, so this is a matter of the publication's versions and Usov's own position.
What Happened Next
The interview was published against the backdrop of an already open case and direct disputes about Usov's past. On June 23, 2020, the SBI conducted 16 searches in Odesa in the case of textbooks worth 13 million hryvnias, including at the home of Deputy Mayor Vuhelman, as Antikor reported. On July 21, Antikor wrote that more than a hundred people's deputies were demanding Usov's dismissal, and the appeal was made public by lawyer Masi Nayyem.
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