On Thursday Ukraine’s anti-corruption court ordered the pretrial detention of Andriy Yermak, a close ally and former chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on suspicion of money laundering, prosecutors said. Bail was set at 140 million hryvnias ($3.19 million, €2.72 million), allowing for his release while the case proceeds. Yermak denies the charges.
‘I don’t have that kind of money, and my lawyer will now work with friends and acquaintances to raise the money for bail,’ Yermak told reporters after the hearing. He said his legal team will appeal the detention order and pursue all legal avenues to clear his name.
Prosecutors allege Yermak was involved in a 460 million-hryvnia money-laundering scheme tied to a housing development outside Kyiv. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are handling the investigation, which officials say is part of a wider probe into an alleged $100 million kickback network involving officials and associates close to Zelenskyy.
Investigators contend that officials pressured contractors to pay up to 15% in kickbacks in exchange for construction work with Energoatom, the state nuclear energy company. Authorities say the inquiry has broadened to include people in the president’s inner circle, though Zelenskyy himself has not been implicated.
Yermak stepped down amid the probe after authorities raided his home. A long-time confidant of Zelenskyy since the president’s years in television, Yermak helped manage Zelenskyy’s 2019 outsider presidential campaign, served as chief of staff, acted as Kyiv’s lead negotiator in talks with the United States, and took part in planning potential ceasefire scenarios during Russia’s war in Ukraine.