Yermak may lose right to practice law over violation – media

Former Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak, after resuming his legal practice, failed to complete mandatory special courses within three months in accordance with the Procedure for Advanced Training of Lawyers of Ukraine.

This was reported by Schemes (Radio Liberty), Censor.NET informs.

Details

Yermak’s profiles on the websites of the Ukrainian National Bar Association and the Higher School of Advocacy of the UNBA contain no information about his completion of such courses.

According to lawyers, this is considered a violation of the rules of legal ethics, for which he should be held disciplinarily liable, as Yermak failed to meet these professional requirements.

In addition, Lidiia Izovitova, head of the National Bar Association, appointed him to a position on one of the UNBA committees and, during the court hearing on choosing a preventive measure for the former head of the President’s Office, provided him with a positive character reference. Yermak confirmed to journalists that he had not taken the special courses.

Under the Procedure for Advanced Training of Lawyers of Ukraine, the requirement to complete special courses is "an improvement of a lawyer’s professional level, which is an important professional duty."

Under the rules, "in the event of the resumption of legal practice that had been suspended for one year or more, a lawyer is obliged to complete special advanced training courses under a program and procedure developed by the Higher School of Advocacy of the UNBA and approved by the Expert Council on Accreditation and Certification. The lawyer must complete these courses within three months from the moment the right to practice law is restored."

It should be noted that Yermak restored his right to practice law on 23 January 2026. According to his profile on the website of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, he suspended this activity in February 2020, when he became Head of the President’s Office.

Almost six years later, amid the development of the NABU and SAPO investigation in the Midas case, Yermak resigned and later resumed work as a lawyer.

Suspicion against Yermak in the Dynasty case

As a reminder, on the evening of 11 May, NABU and SAPO served a notice of suspicion on former Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak. According to the investigation, more than UAH 460 million was legalised from 2021 to 2025 through a scheme involving the Dynasty cooperative.
NABU said the participants in the Dynasty project agreed to build four private residences on the land plots for personal use. Each house had an area of about 1,000 square metres, and each was worth about US$2 million. The houses were referred to as R1, R2, R3, and R4. They also agreed to build a shared estate, R0, with a spa area, a swimming pool, and a gym.
The main part of the construction was financed with funds obtained by criminal means. Persons controlled by Oleksii Chernyshov also created a front company for this purpose, which placed orders.
After the start of the full-scale invasion, the construction did not stop and even continued more actively. Chernyshov demanded that the builders work faster and in several shifts. Yermak oversaw the construction of his residence.
After media publications about Dynasty, the owners of the residences tried to remove the land and real estate from possible seizure. However, the High Anti-Corruption Court seized the land plots and five unfinished Dynasty properties. NABU and SAPO also inspected the cottage estate.
Commenting on the suspicion, the Office of the President said procedural actions were still ongoing, so it was too early to make any assessments.
Yermak’s lawyer, Ihor Fomin, also said the suspicion was unfounded.
Yermak refused to comment on the suspicion and said he had no houses, only an apartment and a car.
It is known that the High Anti-Corruption Court has seized the land plots and unfinished Dynasty properties.
Yermak has linked the notice of suspicion served on him by NABU to "public pressure on law enforcement agencies".
On May 14, a preventive measure was chosen for Yermak: he was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 140 million.