Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has resigned from his position just hours after Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Office (SAPO) searched his home and office.
Announcing the news, Zelenskyy said all attention should be on diplomacy and defence in war, pointing out that “internal strength is needed”.
“The head of the office, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation,” the president said. “I am grateful to Andriy for always representing Ukraine’s position in negotiations exactly as it should be. But I want to avoid rumours and speculation”.
Zelenskyy’s official decree dismissing Andriy Yermak has been posted on the President’s Office website.
Zelenskyy said he doesn’t want international allies to have “questions” and doubts about Ukraine, and also announced a wholesale reorganisation of the presidential office.
“As for the new head of the office, tomorrow I will hold consultations with those who could lead this institution,” he said.
Zelenskyy also announced that at the upcoming negotiations with the Trump administration, Yermak will be replaced by the Chief of the General Staff, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, and Ukraine’s intelligence services.
“When we all face such an external challenge – war – we must be strong internally. One hundred per cent of our strength will be focused on defending Ukraine. Everyone must now act in this way in the interests of our state and defend our state. This is an unchanging principle. Meetings with the American side will take place in the near future”.
“Full cooperation”
Yermak said on Friday morning that he was fully cooperating with the anti-corruption investigators.
“Today, NABU and SAPO are indeed conducting procedural actions at my home. The investigators are not encountering any obstacles,” Yermak wrote in a post on Telegram.
“They have been given full access to the apartment, and my lawyers are on site, interacting with law enforcement officials. For my part, I am providing full cooperation.”
NABU and SAPO have been investigating the corruption case involving state nuclear monopoly Energoatom for several weeks now. Eight suspects have been charged in what is becoming Ukraine’s most extensive corruption investigation since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
NABU and SAPO said the investigation, which was 15 months in the making and involved 1,000 hours of audio recordings, uncovered the participation of several members of the Ukrainian government.
The watchdogs have not yet released all the tapes, leaving Ukrainians to guess who else could have been involved. A number of senior Ukrainian officials are seen as having close personal links to Yermak.
The majority of Zelenskyy’s aides and allies both inside and outside Ukraine, including in Ukrainian civil society, had been calling for the president to fire him.
