In Ukraine, he was a well-known string puller long before Putin’s attack. But now, five months after the start of the war, the dismissals of high-ranking incumbents draw attention abroad to Andriy Yermak, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Spicy: not the president, but Yermak is said to be behind the layoffs.
A glance at the first few years after the end of the Cold War gives an idea that Andrij Yermak is a man whose life is characterized by ambition and a career through and through. Born in Kyiv in 1971, Ermak studied law and was admitted to the bar in Kiev in 1995 when he was just 24 years old.
Just two years later, the up-and-coming lawyer founded his own law firm specializing in copyright and commercial law in the film and television industry. In 2012, the lawyer founded the production company Garnet International Media Group and produced various films in Ukraine and abroad. During this time, Yermak also met Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was an actor and comedian before he was elected the new President of Ukraine in spring 2019.
But with the dismissal of two senior officials in the Zelenskyi administration, the eyes of the international public are now turning from Zelenskyi to the man who almost always stands next to the president. According to political insiders, the dismissal of Attorney General Iryna Venediktova and Ivan Bakanov, head of the secret service, was not initiated by the president himself, but by his adviser Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office.
Ukrainian political analyst Igor Rejterowitsch agrees. “The current personnel decisions show that the head of the President’s Office has won a power struggle waged behind the scenes,” the “Tagesspiegel” quoted the political analyst as saying. In addition, the successors are said to be close to Oleg Tatarov, Yermak’s controversial deputy, who defended the police’s brutal actions during the “Maidan Revolution” in 2013.
And further: “Even a country that is at war must not violate the constitution and the principle of separation of powers enshrined therein. Moreover, in wartime conditions, power must not be handed over to people with a questionable reputation.” The report mentions that for many years Yermak was a freelancer for MP Elbrus Tadeyev. He, in turn, is said to be a close friend of the son of former President Viktor Yanukovych, who is close to Russia.
