Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies have said they are conducting searches at the home of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s powerful chief aide and lead negotiator in the latest round of peace talks, Andriy Yermak.
Journalists filmed about 10 investigators entering Kyiv’s government quarter in a widening of the investigation into a nuclear energy kickback scandal allegedly run by an associate of the Ukrainian president who has fled the country.
The national anti-corruption bureau (Nabu) said both it and the specialised anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, Sapo, were “conducting investigative actions at the head of the office of the president of Ukraine”.
Yermak is considered the second most powerful figure in Ukraine after Zelenskyy and runs the president’s office, through which the leader’s political affairs are channeled. In a short statement, Yermak confirmed that searches were ongoing at his home.
“The investigators have no obstacles,” he added in a social media statement. “They were given full access to the apartment, my lawyers are on site, interacting with law enforcement officers. From my side, I have full cooperation.”
The scandal first emerged earlier in November, but after days of damaging revelations, it dropped down the news agenda when Donald Trump unexpectedly released a pro-Russian 28-point peace plan.
But Friday’s developments will thrust the scandal back into the spotlight just as Ukraine had been carefully wooing the White House on a 19-point counterproposal, with Yermak fronting talks in Geneva with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
Earlier in November, investigators from Nabu said they had uncovered a high-level criminal scheme at the heart of government. Insiders allegedly received kickbacks of 10-15% from commercial partners of Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear power generator and Ukraine’s most important energy supplier.
Timur Mindich, an old friend and business partner of the Ukrainian president in the Kvartal 95 TV production company, set up by Zelenskyy before he went into politics, was accused of being the organiser. Mindich fled abroad, leaving his apartment in Kyiv’s government district hours before investigators came to arrest him.
Zelenskyy himself has denounced the scheme. However, questions have been raised about how much senior figures in government knew about what was happening, given how many have been accused of involvement.
Two ministers implicated by Zelenskyy were fired earlier this month and the allegations have prompted widespread public outrage at a time when most Ukrainians are having to endure hours of daily electricity blackouts because of Russian bombing of energy infrastructure.
The anti-corruption investigation has been based on more than 1,000 hours of conversations recorded secretly by Nabu, details of which have been released to the media. In one, a suspect said it was a “pity” to build structures to defend power stations from Russian attacks since the money could be stolen instead.
Nabu said it would provide further details later.
