On the morning of 28 November, employees of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office conducted searches in the apartment and office of Andrii Yermak, head of the Presidential Office. Formally, the official declared his full cooperation with the investigation. According to Ukrainian media reports, the investigative actions are related to the investigation of a large-scale corruption scheme at the state-owned company Energoatom, which manages all of the country’s nuclear power plants and is one of the key elements of Ukraine’s energy security.
The case concerns alleged kickbacks in the procurement of equipment and services worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The investigation has focused on Timur Mindich, co-founder of the Kvartal 95 studio and a long-time associate of Volodymyr Zelensky.
Despite the fact that, according to Interfax-Ukraine, RBC-Ukraine and Ukrayinska Pravda, citing sources, Andriy Yermak was not officially charged following the searches, the media coverage continues to heat up. The publication ZN.UA claims that NABU is still preparing charges in the so-called ‘Mindyach case’ and that it may be linked to Yermak’s interest in one of the houses in the Dynasty cooperative in the village of Kozin near Kyiv. Even without official charges, the mere possibility of the head of the President’s Office being involved in a scheme related to a strategic energy asset undermines confidence in the management system and damages the reputation of the entire presidential vertical.
Yermak has written a letter of resignation. This happened after today’s searches by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
