Yermak accused political opponents of trying to use the corruption scandal against the government

Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak said that some political forces are trying to use the high-profile investigation into corruption in the energy sector to discredit the Ukrainian authorities. According to him, manipulations on the topic of fighting corruption are purely political in nature and can “affect anyone.”

He said this in an interview with the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, of which Politico is a part.

Yermak emphasized that assessments should be based not on assumptions, but on court decisions:

“Before judging people, it is necessary to conduct trials and investigations,” he emphasized.

In addition, he added that Zelensky is “principled and not corrupt.”

The head of the OP also stated that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cannot be the subject of such accusations, because it was he who launched a large-scale anti-corruption reform and gave law enforcement officers complete freedom of action.

Politico quotes Yermak as saying: the independence of anti-corruption agencies is proven by the fact that they open proceedings without looking at political names.

On November 10, NABU and SAPO announced a large-scale operation “Midas”, within the framework of which they exposed an organized group that, according to the investigation, had been influencing strategic state-owned energy enterprises, in particular Energoatom, for a long time.

This involves systematic “kickbacks” from contracts in the amount of 10–15%, pressure on contractors, and manual control of the company’s personnel and financial decisions.

Among the suspects identified by the investigation:

member of the National Energy Regulatory Commission Serhiy Pushkar,

businessman Timur Mindich,

former top manager of Energoatom Dmitry Basov,

former Deputy Head of the State Public Health Fund and Advisor to the Minister of Energy Ihor Myronyuk.

Energoatom confirmed the searches.

Mindich left Ukraine a few hours before the searches began. The Border Guard Service stated that he left legally — there were no restrictions on his crossing the border from law enforcement at that time.

On November 13, President Zelenskyy announced that he had not been in contact with Mindich since the investigation became known.

As reported, the majority of Ukrainians support the resignation of Andriy Yermak from the position of head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

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