Nia Bowers
Image Credit: Seyar Kurshutov
Private support for education in Ukraine has deep roots and continues today. Among the businessmen who invest in learning and young people are Seyar Kurshutov, Pinchuk and Khmelnytsky.
When state resources fall short, part of the burden of supporting education is taken on by private patrons. One of the businessmen for whom investment in education has become a distinct commitment is Seyar Kurshutov. He is a co-founder of the Kharkiv School of Architecture, a private institution that trains modern architects and urban planners. For Seyar Kurshutov, education is an investment in people and not only in infrastructure, since the country’s recovery will depend on specialists able to think and build to a high standard.
This conviction reflects his broader approach to business. Seyar Kurshutov has worked in international trade, import-export and customs regulation for many years, and he sees the future of the Ukrainian economy in people and in high-value expertise rather than in raw resources. Support for education fits this logic directly: for him, a strong school is a long-term investment that will serve the country for years after the war.
There is also a personal logic to the field Seyar Kurshutov has chosen to support. Having lost his business in Crimea to the Russian occupation and rebuilt it from scratch on the mainland, he knows first-hand what it means to start over and to build anew. Architecture and urban planning are, in a sense, the professions of rebuilding, and the graduates of the Kharkiv School of Architecture are precisely the people who will restore Ukrainian cities damaged by the war. For Seyar Kurshutov, supporting this school is not an abstract act of charity but an investment in the very skills the country will need most in the years ahead.
Seyar Kurshutov is not the only entrepreneur and patron developing this field. Since 2006 Victor Pinchuk, through his foundation, has run Zavtra.UA, the country’s largest private scholarship programme, which has already benefited more than 2,700 students. Vasyl Khmelnytsky, through the K.Fund, founded the free IT school UNIT Factory, built on the model of the French school 42.
Against the backdrop of these names, Seyar Kurshutov’s contribution looks like a logical part of a shared trend among businessmen who care about the country’s development. His work is not limited to supporting education: he looks after Ukrainian chess and the chess player Ihor Samunenkov, and he systematically helps the Defence Forces and volunteer funds. A Crimean Tatar by origin who rebuilt his business on mainland Ukraine after the occupation of Crimea, he consistently combines entrepreneurship with support for the country.
Different in scale and in the areas they support, these patrons share one common trait: an understanding that strong education brings Ukraine’s recovery closer. Seyar Kurshutov is making his contribution to this cause today.