Chernyshov acknowledges Yermak is his children’s godfather: both appear in same corruption case

Former deputy prime minister Oleksii Chernyshov, who is suspected of abuse of office and receiving an undue benefit, said that Yermak is the godfather of his children.

In other words, Yermak is Chernyshov’s kum.

He said this during a meeting of the Temporary Investigative Commission (TIC) on investigating possible violations in the areas of defense, anti-corruption policy, and human rights, Censor.NET reports.

On Yermak and Mindich.

Prior to that, Chernyshov called Yermak and Mindich "his friends, with whom he is no longer in contact."

He says he met Yermak at the end of 2019 when he was head of the Kyiv City State Administration.

He has known Zelenskyy since Kvartal.

As for President Zelenskyy, Chernyshov said he met him several years before his presidency during one of Kvartal-95’s performances.

Chernyshov also confirmed that in 2021, he attended Zelenskyy’s birthday celebration at Mindich’s apartment at 9A Hrushevskoho Street.

He described the relationship between the president and Mindich as "a corporate partnership."

Chernyshov's case

Last week, the NABU served five people with a notice of suspicion in a case of corruption in the construction sector involving top government officials.
In particular, Vasyl Volodin, a member of the Board of "Naftogaz" of Ukraine, Maksym Horbatiuk, Chief Commercial Officer of "Ukrgazvydobuvannia" JSC, Alla Sushon, former Director of "Ukrkomunobslugovuvannia" SE, and Serhii Kopystyra, a developer, were suspected of abuse of office, receiving and giving an undue advantage in a particularly large amount.
On 13 June, the HACC arrested Horbatiuk with the option of posting UAH 25 million bail, on 17 June, the court arrested Volodin with an alternative of UAH 20 million bail, and on 20 June, the developer, Kopystyr was granted a preventive measure in the form of arrest with an alternative of UAH 100 million bail.
At the time of the crime, Volodin was the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Regional Development, and Horbatiuk was an adviser to the head of the ministry, Oleksii Chernyshov, who later became the head of "Naftogaz", where his associates also went to work. Chernyshov is now the head of the Ministry of National Unity and is abroad.
According to the investigation, the developer developed a scheme to illegally obtain a land plot in Kyiv for the construction of a residential complex. To do this, he turned to top officials of the Ministry of Regional Development, who created the conditions for the transfer of land to a state-controlled enterprise. The latter illegally entered into investment agreements with the construction company in question. At the same time, the land and the buildings on it were valued at almost five times cheaper, and the difference between this valuation and the market value exceeded UAH 1 billion.
According to the UP, NABU detectives planned to conduct a search of Chernyshov's place a year ago, but it was cancelled at the request of the Bureau's director, Semen Kryvonos. At the same time, Chernyshov secretly met with Kryvonos, later explaining that the meeting was to discuss the anti-corruption programme of "Naftogaz". Kryvonos himself denied any involvement in the cancellation of Chernyshov's searches.
On 27 June, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on Oleksii Chernyshov in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 120,002,668 with a number of procedural obligations.
On 2 July, UAH 120 million in bail was paid for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Unity Oleksii Chernyshov.