On November 28, investigators searched the home of Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office. Later, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Yermak was resigning. Yermak confirmed the searches himself and said investigators had been given full access to the apartment while his lawyers cooperated with law enforcement.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, about 10 officers from NABU and SAPO entered Kyiv’s government quarter. Lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said detectives were preparing a formal notice of suspicion, although Interfax-Ukraine and RBC-Ukraine reported that no charge had been filed at that time.
The searches are linked to a corruption case involving the state company Energoatom. On November 10, NABU and SAPO announced Operation Midas: the inquiry had lasted 15 months, investigators reviewed more than 1,000 hours of audio recordings, and the alleged damage was estimated at $100 million. More than 70 searches were carried out in the case.
Investigators consider businessman Timur Mindich, a co-owner of Kvartal 95 and an alleged close associate of Zelensky, one of the central figures. The case materials also mention former energy ministry adviser Ihor Myroniuk, Energoatom security executive Dmytro Basov, Oleksandr Tsukerman, Ihor Fursenko, Lesya Ustymenko, Liudmyla Zorina, and former deputy prime minister Oleksiy Chernyshov. Some suspects have been detained, while Mindich and Tsukerman left Ukraine and were later sanctioned.
Political analysts Volodymyr Fesenko and Georgiy Chizhov told Novaya Gazeta Europe that the move against Yermak could weaken the system of power built around Zelensky and complicate peace talks, where Yermak led the Ukrainian delegation. In their view, if a formal charge is filed, the president will likely have to replace him in the negotiations and at least temporarily suspend him from office.
“There are no obstacles for the investigators... I am fully cooperating,” Yermak said.