Zelenskyy’s team now claim that Yermak was not influential, and that Office of President is merely administrative office

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the President’s Office, stated that the former head of the President’s Office, Andrii Yermak, had no independent political influence and did not act as an independent player in politics.

He made this statement in a comment to Liga.net, reports Censor.NET.

Yermak was an operational manager

"Look, the Office of the President isn’t some sort of state body that has to perform specific executive functions. It is essentially a chancellery, the president’s secretariat. And the president operates on the basis that he needs such operational managers. In my view, Yermak was precisely a successful operations manager who performed the functions of such a manager under President Zelenskyy," said Podolyak.

According to him, this is why Yermak remained in office for so long and, in the president’s view, effectively performed the functions of an operational manager rather than an "independent political figure".

At the same time, the adviser spoke of the "demonisation of Yermak’s image" in the public consciousness: "(This led to the fact – Ed.) that people had the impression he was an autonomous political entity. But that is not the case."

"In reality, he was, let’s say it again, President Zelenskyy’s operational manager. And the president felt comfortable working within the framework created by Yermak. Well, in terms of working out the president’s various positions within different professional groups," said Podolyak.

It was President Zelenskyy himself who began using the word ‘managers’ in reference to his inner circle.

Yermak suspected in the "Dynasty" case

As a reminder, on the evening of 11 May, NABU and the SAPO announced that they had placed Andriy Yermak, the former head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, under suspicion. According to the investigation, between 2021 and 2025, over 460 million hryvnias were laundered through a scheme involving the "Dynasty" cooperative.
NABU stated that the participants in the "Dynasty project" agreed to build four private residences on the plots for their own personal use. Each house covered an area of around 1,000 square metres, and the cost of a single house was approximately $2 million. These houses were designated R1, R2, R3 and R4. They also agreed to build a shared estate, R0, featuring a spa area, a swimming pool and a gym.
The bulk of the construction was financed with funds obtained through criminal means. To this end, individuals under the control of Oleksii Chernyshov set up a front company to place the orders.
After the start of the full-scale invasion, construction did not stop but actually continued more intensively. Chernyshov demanded that the builders work faster and operate in multiple shifts. Yermak oversaw the construction of his residence.
Following media reports about "Dynasty", the owners of the residences attempted to remove the land and property from potential seizure. However, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a seizure order on the land plots and five unfinished "Dynasty" properties. The NABU and SAPO also carried out an inspection of the cottage complex.
The Office of the President, commenting on the allegations, stated that legal proceedings are still ongoing, so it is too early to make any assessments.
Yermak’s lawyer, Ihor Fomin, also stated that the allegations were groundless.
Yermak declined to comment on the allegations and noted that he owns no houses, only a flat and a car.
It is known that the High Anti-Corruption Court has seized land plots and unfinished properties belonging to ‘Dynasty’.
Yermak links the notification of the charges against him by the NABU to "public pressure on law enforcement agencies".
On 14 May, a preventive measure was imposed on Yermak – he was remanded in custody with bail set at 140 million hryvnias.
On 18 May, Yermak was released from pre-trial detention.