A new director has been appointed at the Dovzhenko Centre: the decision has sparked controversy

The appointment was announced by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

A new general director has been appointed at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre.

The contract with the director was signed by the Ukrainian State Film Agency.

The new head has been working at the centre since August 2022, when he was appointed executive director of the institution. In December 2024, he became acting general director.

The Ministry of Culture noted that, together with the centre's management, they are continuing to work on strategic initiatives for the development, preservation and promotion of Ukrainian cinematographic heritage.

After the appointment was announced, a public conflict arose around the institution.

The former head of the Dovzhenko Centre, Ivan Kozlenko, criticised the decision. In a Facebook post, he called the appointment a "big mistake."

According to Kozlenko, it was under the new director's leadership that the centre allegedly experienced "the deepest decline in its more than 30-year history."

He also stated that the institution had ceased to be an open cultural institution and that decisions were being made without the knowledge of the staff.

Kozlenko accused the new director and the head of promotion and distribution, lawyer Olesia Kryzhanivska, of abuse and called their actions a "raider takeover" of the institution.

According to him, Kryzhanivska allegedly employed lawyers from her own law firm in her department, and the head of the centre may be linked to a security company that won the tender for the institution's security at an inflated price.

The new director denies these allegations.

He stated that he has no connection to any security company and that tenders are conducted by the State Property Fund of Ukraine.

"In my declaration, I describe all my businesses, and there is no security structure there," he said.

He also refuted the allegations regarding the hiring of acquaintances. According to him, out of ten employees of draft age, five serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the rest worked at the centre before he arrived.

The centre's creative director, Olena Goncharuk, noted that the statements need to be verified and that the individuals involved must confirm or refute them themselves.

She added that the centre's financial and activity reports are published on the institution's website.

The Dovzhenko Centre has repeatedly found itself at the centre of conflicts due to attempts at reorganisation.

In particular, such attempts took place in 2010 and 2022. In both cases, they effectively involved evicting the institution from its premises.

On 16 August 2022, the State Film Agency announced the reorganisation of the Dovzhenko Centre, which involved dividing the institution into several new legal entities.

The centre itself stated that this would effectively mean the liquidation of the institution.

After that, Ukrainian cultural organisations appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to review the decision on reorganisation.

In September 2022, a petition to cancel the reorganisation of the centre gathered more than 25,000 signatures.

In November 2022, then-Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko announced that the process of reorganising the film archive would be halted.

At the same time, Olena Honcharuk was removed from her duties as acting director general of the centre.

In February 2023, she won the competition for the position of director general of the Dovzhenko Centre again, but the order for her appointment has not yet been signed.