Zelenskyy's top aide Yermak ordered law enforcement to draw up charges against head of anti-corruption prosecutor's office following Midas investigation

Ukrainska Pravda, Alona Mazurenko - 24 November, 06:58

Andrii Yermak. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

After the first parts of the Midas investigation into corruption within the president's circle had been made public by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), Andrii Yermak, Head of the President's Office, tasked Office-controlled security forces to draw up charges against Oleksandr Klymenko, Head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).

Source: article by Ukrainska Pravda

Details: According to Ukrainska Pravda sources within law enforcement, the President's Office continued to direct its loyal security forces after the Midas investigation had been made public.

Klymenko stated at a conference: "Ali Baba holds meetings and assigns tasks to law enforcement agencies so that they pursue and continue to pursue NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors. This is not a normal situation."

This happened the same week that the Mindich tapes were released.

Sources in the anti-corruption agencies told Ukrainska Pravda that "Ali Baba" is not Andrii Yermak's codename on the Mindich tapes, but is a nickname used for operational secrecy in internal communications by the detectives and prosecutors themselves. When people in political circles refer to Andrii Borysovych Yermak, they use the initial letters of his first name and patronymic – AB.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a meeting with the heads of NABU and SAPO at the end of the first week of Operation Midas, sources close to the President's Office said.

But "the conversation didn't go anywhere", an influential official familiar with the meeting emphasised.

Sources in law enforcement said that immediately after the attempt to talk, Yermak once again tasked security forces with preparing charges against SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko.

Ukrainska Pravda previously reported that key government figures close to President Zelenskyy had advised him to dismiss Yermak following NABU's high-profile Midas investigation.

Background:

On 10 November, NABU reported that it had uncovered a large-scale corruption scheme in the energy sector and posted audio recordings of conversations between the people involved. Prior to this, Ukrainska Pravda sources said that NABU had conducted searches at the homes of Tymur Mindich and then Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko. Ukrainska Pravda sources also stated that Mindich left Ukraine hours before the searches.
On 11 November, journalists identified all the individuals implicated in the large-scale investigation into corruption at Energoatom who have been formally notified of suspicion by NABU. An investigative reporting project by Skhemy found that notices of suspicion have been served on Tymur Mindich (referred to as "Karlsson" on the NABU tapes), former adviser to the energy minister Ihor Myroniuk ("Rocket"), Energoatom's executive director for security Dmytro Basov ("Tenor"), Oleksandr Tsukerman ("Sugarman"), Ihor Fursenko ("Roshyk"), Lesia Ustymenko and Liudmyla Zorina.
Five of the suspects have been detained. Two – Mindich and Tsukerman – have left Ukraine.
Basov, Myroniuk, Fursenko, Ustymenko and Zorina have been assigned pre-trial restrictions with the option of bail. It later emerged that the High Anti-Corruption Court has received bail payments for Lesia Ustymenko and Liudmyla Zorina, the two back-office employees involved in laundering funds linked to Energoatom.
On 13 November, Zelenskyy enacted a decision by the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) to impose sanctions against businessman Tymur Mindich – co-owner of Kvartal 95 Studio and an associate of the president – and businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman.

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