Iryna Zhdanova runs for the Supervisory Board of Public Media of Ukraine from the Open Policy Foundation
At the end of 2025, the selection process for members of the Supervisory Board (hereinafter – the Supervisory Board) of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting began and is currently ongoing.
The Supervisory Board is the strategic governing body of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting, primarily tasked with ensuring the independence of its activities. It is formed from representatives of civil society across nine public sectors, as well as representatives delegated by parliamentary factions and groups of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Members of the Supervisory Board are elected once every five years.
Aware of my responsibility to society, I, Iryna Zhdanova, Executive Director of the NGO “Open Policy Foundation” and Coordinator of the Civic Platform for Reforming the Scientific Sector, decided to submit my candidacy for membership in the Supervisory Board in the field of education and science.
My program is aimed at providing information support for Ukrainian science and education through public broadcasting and is based on three priorities:
- accessible fundamental education for a knowledge-based economy;
- science for national defense;
- veteran education focused on care and professional retraining.
My program is focused on ensuring the independence, transparency, high quality, and public relevance of educational and scientific content of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting, so that public broadcasting becomes an accessible and effective instrument for the development of science and education in support of Ukraine’s victory and recovery (see details at where my program was published).
As I was officially informed, the conference to elect a member of the Supervisory Board is scheduled to take place on January 20, 2026. Three candidates are running:
- Iryna Zhdanova, Executive Director and Co-founder of the NGO “Open Policy Foundation”, Coordinator of the Civic Platform for Reforming the Scientific Sector;
- Halyna Tytysh, Co-founder of the NGO “Vchysia”, Director of the Charitable Foundation “Foundation Mnozhyna”;
- Taras Shevchenko, Lead Expert at the Center for Democracy and Rule of Law.
Out of 34 civil society organizations admitted to the conference, 22 nominated Halyna Tytysh, 11 nominated Taras Shevchenko, and only one organization nominated me.
What do these figures indicate?
They demonstrate that the election of candidates to the Supervisory Board is already dominated by two large monopolistic groups of organizations formed to ensure the election of a pre-determined candidate. This is not a competition of programs or approaches. It is the promotion of a “preferred” candidate through the support of controlled organizations.
Under such conditions, the election results are known in advance and have no relation to democracy, fair and competitive procedures, or the establishment of genuine public oversight over the national public broadcaster.
I would also like to draw attention to two additional circumstances.
First, a similar monopolistic voting scheme is applied in other sectors of the Supervisory Board elections. This indicates a systemic problem that must be addressed in the overall procedure for forming the Supervisory Board.
Second, this situation demonstrates stagnation not only in the field of education and science, but also across other areas of the Supervisory Board’s composition. Certain individuals are re-elected term after term, effectively turning membership in the Supervisory Board into a form of lifelong sinecure.
This is my second attempt to run for membership in the Supervisory Board. In 2016, I placed second, while my opponent secured victory by mobilizing dozens of controlled organizations. Ten years later, after several selection processes, this individual remains a member of the Supervisory Board in the field of child and youth protection and currently serves as Chair of the Supervisory Board Audit Committee.
I do not intend to participate for a second time in such a farce, where the winners are determined in advance.
Therefore, I am withdrawing my candidacy from the election to the Supervisory Board of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting. Please consider this my official statement.
I believe that the procedure for selecting members of the Supervisory Board must be fundamentally revised. In particular, it is necessary to introduce term limits (no more than two terms) and to allow each civil society organization to nominate only one candidate. Following expert discussions and risk assessment, relevant amendments should be made to the Law of Ukraine “On Public Media of Ukraine”.
In the context of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, we must not give any reason to doubt our resilience or our determination to build a strong and dignified Ukraine. We must implement international democratic standards, rather than imitate them. I am convinced that this transformation will occur sooner or later.
Iryna Zhdanova Executive Director of the NGO “Open Policy Foundation”, Coordinator of the Civic Platform for Reforming the Scientific Sector