Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) are conducting searches in the office of the presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, NABU said in a statement on November 28.
“The investigative actions are authorized and are being carried out as part of the investigation. Details to follow,” it said.
A correspondent for Ukrainian media outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reporting from the scene shared images of anti-corruption agency employees entering the government district in Kyiv, but did not provide further details.
The nature of the searches and the current status of the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff are unknown.
Andriy Yermak’s office has confirmed that they are fully cooperating with the investigators.
“Today, NABU and SAPO are indeed conducting procedural actions at my home. The investigators are not encountering any obstacles. 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,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.
“As long as there are no formal suspicions or legal claims regarding Yermak’s involvement in the corruption case, Zelenskyy may not take radical action, such as fully dismissing Yermak,” Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta Center for Political Studies in Kyiv, told RFE/RL.
“Zelenskyy faces a difficult choice. Especially since Yermak is also the head of the delegation in negotiations with the United States regarding ending the war,” he added.
“In my view, temporary removal would be the most balanced compromise option — at least for the duration of the investigation,” Fesenko concluded.
Meanwhile, in an interview with The Atlantic, Yermak, said that ceding sovereign territory is off the table in Ukraine peace talks.
In the interview published on November 27, he stated that as long as Zelenskyy remains president, no one should expect Ukraine to give up any territory.
“Not a single sane person today would agree to a document that involves giving up territory,” Yermak said, according to The Atlantic.
Yermak is considered to be one of the most powerful officials in Ukraine and led the Ukrainian delegation for talks with the United States in Geneva last week about a potential settlement of the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has been rocked by a corruption scandal in recent weeks after it was revealed that funds meant for the country’s vulnerable energy infrastructure have been siphoned off.
Several influential individuals with links to Zelenskyy have been implicated in the scheme.
Answering a question from RFE/RL on the issue, European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said “any investigations show that the anti-corruption bodies are in place and are allowed to function in Ukraine. The fight against corruption has been a central element of our enlargement package, which provides our general position on the matter. Let me stress that the fight against corruption is key for a country to join the European Union.”
Ukraine applied to join the EU shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and is an official candidate country but is yet to start formal accession negotiations.
