Zelenskyy should dismiss Yermak and start working with opposition - FT
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should dismiss the head of the Presidential Administration, Andrii Yermak, and form a government of new reformers.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in an article by the FT.
The Mindich case
Journalists note that Zelenskyy's actions were not enough to stop the political and public resistance that arose after the publication of the NABU investigations. Ukrainians feel that there is an attempt to "cover up" the case.
"Zelenskyy has concentrated power at the top of the state under the leadership of the omnipresent head of the Office, Andriy Yermak. Within this old system, loyalty is rewarded more than competence, and tolerance for self-enrichment and the threat of fabricated investigations by the special services are used as instruments of control," the article says.
What should Zelenskyy do?
The FT believes that the president should allow law enforcement agencies (probably referring to NABU and SAPO - Ed.) to see the case through to the end and make personnel changes.
"He (Zelenskyy. - Ed.) should change his management style. A government of national unity would be too ineffective, but Zelenskyy should open his office to talented reformers, work with the constructive opposition and stop treating rivals and independent media as traitors. To do this, he needs to clean up the presidential office and remove advisers linked to abuses," the publication's editorial board writes.
They note that Yermak's dismissal seems inevitable.
Yermak's possible dismissal
- Earlier, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said that the head of the Presidential Administration, Andriy Yermak, appears in NABU recordings.
- According to media reports, key government officials are advising President Zelenskyy to dismiss Yermak.
- People's Servant MP Fedir Venislavskyi believes that the head of the Presidential Administration should resign.
Mindichgate
- Earlier, Censor.NET reported that NABU was conducting searches at Mindich's residence, who left Ukraine a few hours before the searches.
- As reported, on Tuesday, 4 November, searches were conducted in one of the branches of the separate divisions of NAEK Energoatom in connection with a corruption case.
- NABU is also conducting searches at the home of former Energy Minister Halushchenko and at Energoatom.
- NABU and SAPO announced a large-scale operation to expose corruption in the energy sector.
- The current Minister of Energy, Svitlana Hrynychuk, appears in NABU recordings as part of the investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
- Subsequently, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau exposed an office in central Kyiv belonging to the family of former MP and current Russian Senator Andrii Derkach. There, they kept "black accounts," recorded money, and organised money laundering.
- On 11 November, NABU released recordings featuring Minister Halushchenko and Mindich.
- Chernyshov has been notified of suspicion of illegal enrichment as part of Operation Midas.
- One of the suspects, Dmytro Basov, was remanded in custody with bail set at 40 million hryvnia.
- Halushchenko's former adviser Myroniuk was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 126 million.
- The Cabinet of Ministers submitted proposals to the National Security and Defence Council to impose personal sanctions on Timur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman following a NABU investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
- Earlier, Ihor Myronyuk and the executive director of security at Energoatom, Dmytro Basov, who appeared in NABU's videos under the nickname Tenor, were remanded in custody for 60 days.
- Another suspect, Lesya Ustymenko, was also remanded in custody for 60 days.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure for Ihor Fursenko (known as Ryoshik in NABU recordings), a suspect in a case of corruption in the energy sector.
- On 13 November, the High Anti-Corruption Court arrested Lyudmila Zorina, with bail set at 12 million hryvnia.
- Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against Mindich and Zuckerman.
