Media: Fears about the "second person in Ukraine" are getting louder in Kyiv

 "In the Business Insider article published this week by journalist Paul Starobin, serious allegations were made against the head of office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Andriy Yermak.

 

     In the political and business circles of Kyiv, A. Jermak is considered the second most influential person in the country, some believe that he has more influence even than the president, writes P. Starobin. According to him, fears are growing that a "new oligarchy system" has begun to form under A. Yermak.

 

     According to the article, director of the anti-corruption center, Darja Kaleniuk, revealed to Mr. Starobin the realities of the political and economic structure of Ukraine during the leadership of V. Zelensky and A. Yermak.

 

     According to her, the events that started in 2022 in Ukraine essentially destroyed the generation of oligarchs, who used complete freedom of action in plundering the Ukrainian economy since the country regained its independence. The old "titans" no longer have the power they once had over parliament and the media, and much of their industrial wealth is in the territories that have seceded.

 

     However, the bad side, according to D. Kaleniuk, is that A. Jermak is creating a new oligarchy system, which he himself leads. According to her, Yermak, through his deputies in the presidential office and members of the cabinet, is maneuvering to control a large part of Ukraine's economy, as well as law enforcement and security services.

 

     What she revealed is essentially the formation of a random oligarchy under the guise of a conflict situation, writes the journalist. Such fears about A. Jermak are said to be getting louder in Kyiv.

 

     "A. Yermak is like a father who teaches these children how to manage a business," another interlocutor, general director of a fertilizer company Yurijus Alatortsev, told the journalist. When he says "business", Mr. Alatortsev means political corruption. He also reminded that A. Yermak and V. Zelensky control the ruling party "People's Servant", which has a majority in the parliament.

 

     A. Yermak denies that he is using his service in V. Zelensky's office to loot Ukraine. Yermak's adviser Darya Zarivna told P. Starobin that such criticism reflects the information war launched by Russia against the leadership of Ukraine. She also added that "Ukrainian oligarchs" opposing Zelenskyi's team are using Ukraine's "media market" to block anti-corruption reforms.

 

     Corruption, which has long infected the country's political system, worries Ukrainians far from the ruling circles. At the same time, as the author of the article notes, the White House hopes that it is the office of the President of Ukraine that will eradicate systemic corruption in the country.

 

     There is no doubt, as A. Yermak says, that Kremlin propagandists in Moscow want to portray V. Zelensky's government as a den of thieves. 

 

However, according to P. Starobin, the opinion that A. Yermak is forming an oligarchic clan with the help of dubious deputies comes from the most Western-oriented and educated part of Ukrainian society.

 

     Former Ukrnafta vice-president Roman Ilto, who now works at the Swedish Embassy in Kyiv and deals with energy and environmental issues, said that after the conflict began, a "newly born" oligarch clan led by A. Yermak took control of the energy sector. He pointed out that "Ukrnafta" and other strategically important companies were transferred to the state.

 

     R. Ilto mentions A. Jermak's deputy Rostislav Shurm, who worked for many years in the management company of Rinat Akhmetov, and then became the curator of energy and other economic sectors in the office of the country's president. Like Oleg Tatarov, R. Shurm is also considered part of A. Yermak's "machine".

 

     As P. Starobin notes in the article, according to polls, Ukrainians identify corruption as a major obstacle to business development in the country. Ukrainians also say in polls that it would be "appropriate" for foreign partners to provide military aid "on the condition that there is an effective fight against corruption in Ukraine." Ukraine ranks 116th among 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by Transparency International." [1]