Volodymyr Zelensky faces a political storm as calls to fire his powerful chief-of-staff, Andriy Yeermak in the corruption scandal, which now involves a gold toilet, grow.
According to Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau, businessmen and officials swindled around PS76million from the energy sector of their country. Yermak is Zelensky’s close aide and accused of choking anti-corruption investigations, although investigators did not accuse him of taking a share of the scheme.
Officials who refused to be named warned the local media of Zelensky’s collapse if he did not remove Yermak. They said, “Our enemies are smelling blood.”
These allegations have hit home in a nation where many families are subjected to rolling blackouts due to Russia’s constant attacks on the energy infrastructure.
, an anti-corruption agency, released results from their 15-month investigation into a possible embezzlement attempt at Energoatom. This is the government-run nuclear agency. This report contained secret recordings made by high-profile actors who had been given mafia style nicknames.
Timur Mindich is a friend and long-time business partner of Zelensky. He has been accused of orchestrating the plot. Just hours before the investigators arrived at his house, he fled Ukraine. The detectives discovered a gold toilet bowl inside his bathroom. It was a sign of excessive wealth in a nation that is struggling to survive.
Mindich is a co-owner of Kvartal 95, a company Zelensky founded before he entered politics. They have a personal history dating back many years.
Two ministers have already been removed by the fallout. Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, and Energy Minister Svitlana Hyrnchuk both resigned in the last week. Both claimed they had done nothing wrong.
After opposition members claimed that Yermak or his deputy may have been “Ali Baba”, an alias in the recordings of the case, lawmakers are openly speculating about Yermak’s fate.
Yaroslav Zelensky, a member of Zelensky’s Servant of People party and an opposition legislator from Holos, said to Politico, that members of Zelensky’s party believe Yermak could be connected with the scheme.
Semen Kryvonos, the Nabu’s chief executive officer, has refused to confirm whether Yermak is in any of these wiretaps. Yermak denies any involvement.
Since the summer when the chief of the staff was accused of leading the efforts to destroy the anti-corruption agency of the country, pressure has increased on him. He is accused of consolidating power in wartime, and exerting a large influence on the president.
Since the Russian invasion, Zelensky has become unusually close to Yermak. The Financial Times reports that the two men sleep next to each other and relax with old movies or table tennis in the bunker of the president.
Many in Kyiv view the scandal as an opportunity to remove a senior adviser who they feel has led the government off track.
Zelensky is trying to convince Western supporters that he will be able to safeguard billions of dollars in aid, while facing a huge budget deficit.
