The head of the presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, is leaving his post. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this to the public this evening.
Yermak, who was said to be the Ukrainian president's right-hand man, is out after investigators from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) searched his office and apartment on Friday morning.
The daily newspaper Ukrainian Pravda published a photo on social media showing the presence of a NABU riot police unit in the government district in central Kiev in the early hours of the morning.
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"NABU and SAP are conducting investigative actions against the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine," the anti-corruption authorities confirmed.
And finally, Andriy Yermak himself. “NABU and SAP are actually carrying out procedural actions at my house today,” he wrote on Telegram, adding that investigators have been given full access to his apartment, his lawyers are also on site and communicating with law enforcement officers. “From my side – full cooperation,” he added.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, no official suspicion has been raised against anyone."The investigation is still ongoing," the daily quotes its sources as saying.
The Midas case also brought down the head of the office
According to the Kyiv Independent portal, NABU is investigating Yermak's possible involvement in the Midas corruption case, which has resonated in the country in recent weeks. It concerns the tunneling of the state-owned nuclear company Enerhoatom, and investigators have also released a series of recordings that are intended to convict the suspects of wrongdoing.
As part of the case, Yermak's surname was also mentioned in connection with possible interference in the investigation of anti-corruption authorities.
The head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Oleksandr Klymenko, claimed that a certain"Ali Baba" holds meetings at which he "gives out tasks to the security forces to put pressure on NABU investigators and prosecutors of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office."
Opposition MP Jaroslav Zhelezňak subsequently stated that the nickname Ali Baba may belong to Andriy Yermak, and he proceeds from the fact that Yermak is nicknamed"A.B." in the corridors after his first two initials (Andriy Borysovych, ed. note). According to sources of Ukrainian Pravda, the nickname Ali Baba does not appear on the so-called Mindich (Timur Mindich – one of the suspected organizers of the tunneling and a friend of the Ukrainian president, ed. note) recordings as Yermak's nickname, but it was used by detectives and prosecutors in internal communication.
The newspaper also wrote that after the publication of the first parts of the NABU investigation into the Midas case, the head of the presidential office instructed the security forces under the control of the presidential office (the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office, ed. note) to prepare charges against Klymenko. However, the SBU denied that it had received any such assignments.
We also recall that in July this year, a bill that was supposed to limit the independence of investigators and prosecutors specializing in grand corruption sparked civil protests in Ukraine. Zelenskyy eventually reversed course and restored NABU and SAP to their original status.
Zelensky sent Yermak to key negotiations
The Midas scandal led to key government officials close to the president reportedly advising Volodymyr Zelensky to dismiss Yermak. Some MPs from the ruling Servant of the People party also demanded the resignation of the head of the presidential office.
However, Andriy Yermak eventually led Ukrainian negotiators who headed to Geneva on Sunday to discuss with American and European officials a draft peace plan put forward by the Donald Trump administration.
In this regard, Servant of the People party MP Ruslan Horbenko noted that Zelensky could have sent Yermak to the negotiations to signal to the partners that he takes them extremely seriously by sending his right hand to them.
However, opposition MP from the European Solidarity Party, Oleksiy Honcharenko, pointed out that while the US delegation was led by the Secretary of State, the Ukrainian delegation was completely absent. “Why do we have a foreign minister if he is not at the negotiations, which are some of the key ones in the history of independent Ukraine?” he asked in an interview with Radio Sloboda.
Some analysts interpreted Yermak's participation in the negotiations as a signal that Zelensky still counts on his closest collaborator. That is why the president's current move is surprising. According to the Ukrainian president, Yermak himself requested his resignation, and the president's office is therefore facing a"reboot."
Who will replace him?
The question automatically appeared on the airwaves - who will replace the current head of the presidential administration? Zelensky said in his evening speech that tomorrow he"wants to hold consultations with those who could head this institution."
There was brief speculation last week that former Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oksana Makarova had been offered the position of chief of staff, but she declined. However, Makarova denied that she had received such an offer.
Even before Yermak's dismissal, it was said that replacing someone who has a reputation for living off his work, is involved in many important domestic and foreign policy processes, and who has concentrated a great deal of power in his hands, may not be so easy.
"I heard that if Yermak were replaced, who would then work? It's a mixture of extraordinary trust and the president's belief that if Yermak were removed (from office), they would weaken his position, because Andriy Yermak really took on a lot of obligations," journalist Yulia Zabelina commented for Radio NV.
We remind you that Andriy Yermak has stood by Volodymyr Zelenskyy's side since the beginning of 2020. According to the BBC Ukraine website, this made him a"record holder" - he was at the head of the office for the longest time of all his predecessors in office.
