After Yermak's resignation: Ukrainian organisation reveals changes to advisory system in President's Office
The Chesno Movement, a Ukrainian organisation focused on combating political corruption and holding those in power accountable, in response to an information request, has received from the Office of the President of Ukraine an updated list of advisers and representatives of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as the names of those in the team of Kyrylo Budanov, who now heads the Office following the resignation of Andrii Yermak.
Source: Chesno Movement
Quote: "The system of advisers to the president and the Office of the President has long remained one of the least transparent parts of public administration… Having received a response to a new information request, we can now understand who has remained in their positions and which new names appear on the updated list."
Details: According to the data, 15 people currently work directly with the president: one full-time adviser, six non-staff advisers, five authorised advisers, and three presidential representatives in state bodies.
Chesno notes that the most significant changes concern non-staff advisers. While in 2024 there were three – Andrew Mac, Yurii Kostiuk and Andrii Shevchenko – the list has now expanded to six.
Kostiuk and Shevchenko have been joined by Oleksandr Kamyshin (strategic issues), Oksana Markarova (recovery and investment), Oleksandr Kubrakov (infrastructure and community relations) and former Canadian deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland (economic development).
Meanwhile, Andrew Mac – a US lawyer of Ukrainian origin specialising in international law – is no longer on the list, having been dismissed by Zelenskyy on 20 January 2026.
Chesno also points out that former government officials Kamyshin, Markarova and Kubrakov, who received informal advisory roles after leaving office, have effectively retained some influence over state policy but outside the government hierarchy and parliamentary oversight mechanisms.
"Particular attention should be paid to the career progression of Dmytro Lytvyn: from a non-staff adviser to Andrii Yermak, he has moved to a full-time position as presidential communications adviser and is currently the only full-time adviser on the list," Chesno noted.
The organisation also analysed the team of Kyrylo Budanov, which consists of at least 12 people: eight deputy heads of the Office, two full-time advisers, presidential press secretary Serhii Nykyforov, and Chief of Staff Mariia Vitushok.
"Kyrylo Budanov has noticeably refreshed his team. Unlike the previous composition, there are no non-staff advisers in the Office, and instead of four female advisers under Andrii Yermak, there are now only two advisers – Vitalii Melnykov and Iryna Trofymchuk. Notably, there is no publicly available information about them," Chesno said.
Budanov has also appointed a new first deputy head of the Office – former first deputy foreign minister Serhii Kyslytsia. Iryna Mudra, Ihor Zhovkva, Olena Kovalska and Oleh Tatarov have retained their positions.
However, the updated list of deputy heads does not include the controversial Rostyslav Shurma.
Despite the personnel changes, Chesno stresses that there are still no grounds to speak of a systemic overhaul of the advisory institution.
"In practice, the institution of advisers continues to function as a 'grey zone' of power – a space where decisions are formed but responsibility remains blurred. And this, rather than the individuals themselves, is the key problem that has not been resolved even after the change in leadership of the Office of the President," the organisation concluded.
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