Former Prosecutor General Riaboshapka: "All personnel decisions involving allegations are down to Yermak; he has caused great deal of harm to the country"
Ruslan Riaboshapka, the former Prosecutor General of Ukraine, stated that Andrii Yermak, the former head of the President’s Office, "has caused a great deal of harm to the country through his incompetence, cynicism and immorality".
He made these remarks in an interview with the ‘Shelter’ channel, as reported by Censor.NET.
Accusations of incompetence and destructive personnel policy
"This is a man who has caused a great deal of harm to the country through his incompetence, his cynicism, his immorality, the way he influenced the President, and the way he selected staff – and he selected the worst of the worst. He had a knack for picking the very worst. Even the Prosecutor General who has now stepped down was brought in by the head of the President’s Office. That same Halushchenko, those ministers under suspicion – all the staffing decisions that were under suspicion – that was Yermak," said the former Prosecutor General.
Riaboshapka emphasised that Yermak had taken on an enormous responsibility, and yet "he handled that responsibility and those powers so appallingly".
"I cannot think of a parallel in Ukrainian history of a person who has brought so much harm to this country. The time will come – perhaps, in due course, the picture will become, you know, clearer, more understandable, especially given the NABU investigation, in which we will hear a great deal that we do not yet know. And people will draw their own conclusions. When a person selects the worst, most despicable, most incompetent people for key positions in the country, this actually leads to ruin, to the situation we find ourselves in today, where you bring people to the president who, the day after tomorrow, find themselves implicated in criminal proceedings, and yet they are utterly talentless and incompetent. What else could this possibly lead to?", said Riaboshapka.
Yermak suspected in the ‘Dynasty’ case
- It should be recalled that on the evening of 11 May, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced that Andrii Yermak, the former head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, was 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 had an area of around 1,000 square metres, and the cost of a single house was approximately 2 million dollars. 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 full-scale invasion began, construction did not stop but actually continued at an even faster pace. 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 the scope of potential seizure. However, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a seizure order on the land plots and five unfinished ‘Dynasty’ properties. The NABU and the SAPO also carried out an inspection of the cottage complex.
- Commenting on the allegations, the Office of the President stated that legal proceedings are still ongoing, so it is too early to make any assessments.
- Yermak’s lawyer, Ihor Fomin, also claimed that the allegations were unfounded.
- 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 attributes the notification of the allegations against him by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (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 the remand centre.
