Captain Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Mate Andriy Yermak, are still holding strong the helm of warship ’Ukraine’, despite the waves of a large-scale corruption scandal in the war-torn country can easily sweep away both of them.
Based on materials published by the Ukrainian authorities, with the president’s inner circle implicated, the direct involvement of the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Yermak in this case seems undoubtful. However, President Zelenskiy is reluctant to dismiss his close aide.
When speaking about the relation of the two it needs to be stressed that, in recent years, Yermak has been gaining unprecedented power both with regard to domestic political issues, in the sphere of the military and foreign policy as well, de facto becoming Ukraine’s second-in-command after the president.
The two men maintain such a partnership that their relation has become a topic of analytical materials with some even saying that Yermak is ’the main button on Zelenskiy’s remote control’ while others describe them as ’yin and yang’ – two persons in one entity. The phrase of the ’president’s right-hand man’ no longer reflects the real character of the close relationship between the two.
Given that the data revealed in the investigation into the corruption case also known as ’Operation Midas’ or, ’Mindichgate’ after one of its main figures, Tymur Mindich, a close friend and former business associate of both Zelenskiy and Yermak, leads as far as Yermak, moreover, the president’s name is also reportedly mentioned in the case files, a number of questions remain unanswered, most importantly, related to the issue of responsibility, both for Yermak and Zelenskiy.
In this regard, it is important to note that despite Yermak’s immense power, he cannot act independently from Zelenskiy. ’Andriy Yermak is so influential and is so deep in so many issues inside the country, that it is impossible for such a large-scale corruption scheme to operate without his deep knowledge and understanding’, Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center’s executive director told Ukrainian journalists. The question is, that in the triangle of Zelenskiy, Yermak, and Mindich, who exactly is the latter figure: the mastermind, or just the bankroller?
The investigation conducted by the Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies NABU and SAPO implicated top officials with pressuring contractors to pay up to 15% kickbacks in exchange for construction business with Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy company, Energoatom. Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs say that the investigation involved over 1,000 hours of wiretaps of individuals using code names and cryptic language to discuss the scheme. With two ministers resigned due to the corruption case – Justice Minister Herman Haluschenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk –, the Ukrainian government has been shaken. While some suspects have been detained, others, including Mindich and his chief financier, Oleksandr Tsukerman have left Ukraine.
But, in corruption cases, the most interesting figure is sometimes not the one who resigns or flees, but the one who is still in office because of his or her immunity. In some conversations, a powerful figure came up whom the interlocutors referred to as ’Ali Baba.’ Although the Ukrainian authorities made public the names of the implicated persons, ’Ali Baba’s identity is still unknown for the public, but Yermak’s political opponents try to link him directly to the scandal saying that he is the anonymous individual referred to as Ali Baba in wiretaps. Zelenskyy faces pressure to fire top aide Yermak amid corruption scandal – POLITICO
Despite pressure is mounting on the president to dismiss his gatekeeper Yermak, Zelenskiy seems not ready to take this decision. Some believe that Yermak must go – with his own resignation or if the president fires him – as he has become Zelenskiy’s anti-corruption test.
According to media sources, Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies were planning further special measures, including against Yermak but he could avoid any official charge and scandal until now. The situation may change as the Kyiv leadership’s main concern is whether Yermak might be charged in the course of the investigation into Mindich’s criminal organisation.
Based on Ukrainian media reportings, given that the President’s Office controls law enforcement (the State Investigation Bureau, the National Police, and the Security Service of Ukraine) and the judiciary as well, it was no surprise that both Zelenskiy and Yermak were determined to dismantle the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, leading to the moment when in July, the president signed a law that subordinated these agencies to the prosecutor general, a political appointee.
In July, Zelenskiy has already taken a controversial decision to protect a close friend and ally of him, Deputy PM Oleksiy Chernyshov, in a corruption case. (The investigative materials published by NABU indicate that Chernyshov and his wife personally received over US$1 million in cash at a criminal organisation’s covert offices.) At the same time, Zelenskiy attacked NABU and SAPO which could avoid being subordinated to the Office of the President only thanks to harsh international criticism.
Oleksiy Chernyshov might have been a suspect in a corruption case for a while, according to Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainska Pravda. UP sources point out that Zelenskiy not only refrained from removing Chernyshov as head of Naftohaz (Ukraine’s largest oil and gas company), but raised him into the Ukrainian government – made him deputy PM and appointed him in charge of the Ministry of National Unity, a ministry invented specifically for Chernyshov. Interestingly, Chernyshov was not removed from office even after being charged by NABU with corruption, instead, with a government reshuffle, Zelenskiy dissolved the Ministry of Unity.
The above is a lesson of how the leader of a Ukraine even capable of sinking Russian warships in the full-scale war, has become unworthy of the job. By analogy with the slogan ’Russian warship, go and f*ck yourself’ became known worldwide during the attack on the Snake Island in the Black Sea in the early days of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion in 2022, many people in Ukraine would now send President Zelenskiy and his inner circle far away from power with the same words, and this idea is most likely also shared in the US.
The fact that NABU, which is reportedly operates under US influence, has exposed one of the biggest corruption scandals in Ukraine’s history within the president’s inner circle suggests this. It also should be added that, according to some sources of Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Independent, Yermak’s reputation has been strongly eroded in Washington, but in Ukraine, his reputation is somehow even worse.
The political crisis triggered by the systemic looting of the state budget by the presidents’ closest friends is already being discussed within US President Donald Trump’s circle and the American establishment, UP reported in its investigative material on the corruption case. Another sign indicating that the case has already reached Washington is that the FBI is investigating money laundering involving both Tymur Mindich and his chief financier, Oleksandr Tsukerman.
Since Washington is fully aware that the current corruption scandal is triggering a power crisis in Ukraine, one can only conclude that the US administration’s goal might have been to get rid of President Zelenskiy and his advisors in order to reach a peace agreement with Moscow as soon as possible. This scenario is supported by the fact that, just as the corruption scandal broke, Washington presented Zelenskiy with a secret 28-point ceasefire proposal negotiated by American and Russian officials demanding that Ukraine settle with its invader on crippling terms. The proposal adds to the pressure on Ukraine’s president at a critical time, The Economist notes. According to Bloomberg, Zelenskiy has received strong signals from the US that he should agree to the deal.
It is reasonable to assume that while the most significant suspects flee Ukraine, Zelenskiy must do something with those who remain in the country, in particular Yermak. Experts point to the fact that Zelenskiy himself cannot be removed from office until a constitutionally legitimate national election will be held in Ukraine, but, under martial law, the country cannot hold an election. The only way out for him would be to dismiss Andriy Yermak.
Considering that Yermak is the president’s right hand, is seems unrealistic to ask Zelenskiy to cut his own hand, adding, that Yermak states that oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskiy, Zelenskiy’s former supporter and Russia, may be behind the corruption scandal. As Zelenskiy continues to work closely with Yermak, he faces not only international criticism but also domestic problems with a new anti-Zelenskiy political coalition forming in Kyiv and demanding to hold the Office of the President accountable.
