Academic and Research Institute of Business, Economics and Management
SUMY STATE UNIVERSITY

Maryna Mykolayivna Popatenko, a graduate of the department, is the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine!

Read interesting questions and no less interesting answers below.

    1. Tell us about your journey after SSU.

    The way of becoming an active person with a clear civil position took place at SSU.

    Back in 2004, I had my first experience of negotiating, communicating with the state and finding consensus. We opposed the unification of universities and our university remained a separate legal entity, an important unit of science.

    Later, seeing the announcement of the internship in the Sumy Regional State Administration in the dean’s office, I decided to take part. Viktor Bobyrenko came to the seminar and told how interesting it is to engage in youth policy. After the internship, I stayed there to work, became a specialist in this department.

    The main direction was work with public organizations and the implementation of project competitions. It was at that time that I got acquainted with many public organizations in Sumy and the region.

    We began to organize tent camps, kayak rafting, opened a youth center. It was this center that I became the head of. Then I began to delve into the topic of youth center management and in 2015 I went to a conference on this topic. I was very impressed by the youth center in Strasbourg and Budapest. And I had a dream: to create a modern youth center in Ukraine.

    Four years later, I was appointed head of the Department of Youth Policy and National-Patriotic Education in the Kyiv region. It was here that the construction of a large youth center began from scratch. Now in Ukraine we have a youth center built on the recommendations of the Council of Europe!

    1. What do you do as Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports?

    When I worked in both local government and at the oblast level, it gave me a clear understanding of what government agencies should do. Now the strategy of youth policy, the law of Ukraine “About youth” is under coordination, began to develop the state program for the next 5 years. The main priorities are: a healthy lifestyle, development of young people’s own competencies, development of youth centers and their employees, support for young people from the temporarily occupied territories, improvement of mechanisms for interaction with civil society institutions, etc.

    1. What role did the university play in your professional self-realization?

    Thanks to the university, I understood what teamwork is, how to work with people, where you need to insist on your own, and where to negotiate.

    1. What subjects and teachers do you remember the most?

    I really enjoyed studying. I remember Professor Balatsky. He was a very wise and interesting man! I am very happy to have been his student.

    My favorite teacher is Hanna Shvindina. Thanks to her cool approaches, which were also developed in practice, I understood what management styles, interaction with people, teamwork, etc. are. I now use this knowledge in my work.

    1. What knowledge gained during your studies is especially helpful in your work?

    I am a manager, and I work in my specialty every day. Knowledge of this discipline and communication skills are very helpful. My dissertation was devoted to personnel management. I flipped through it recently and thought about how much more information I could add now.

    1. What qualities should a deputy minister have?

    First of all – to always remain human. Also be an open person who seeks change and is ready to work for the people and the state.

  1. 7. Your wishes to the Department of Management.

    I want people to come to the department who really want to develop young people, to develop themselves, to constantly improve approaches to learning, to take a creative approach to their work. But of course, there more and more students to be proud of.