Zelenskyy's former chief of staff Yermak charged with money laundering
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have served Andrii Yermak, former head of the President's Office, with a notice of suspicion in a case concerning the alleged laundering of UAH 460 million (around US$6 million) through a high-end construction project outside Kyiv.
Quote from SAPO: "NABU and SAPO have uncovered an organised group involved in laundering UAH 460 million through an elite construction project near Kyiv.
Urgent investigative actions are ongoing."
Update: NABU said that in 2018, "Che Guevara" [the codename for Oleksii Chernyshov, former deputy prime minister and Naftogaz CEO – ed.] became one of the founders of Bloom Development LLC.
In summer 2019, the company purchased more than four hectares of land from the Kozyn village council in Kyiv Oblast, which later became the basis for the building project.
In November that year, "Che Guevara" was appointed head of Kyiv Oblast State Administration. Due to his status as a civil servant, he transferred his share in the company's authorised capital to his wife.
In March 2020, "Che Guevara" became the Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, and in May 2020, plans emerged for the construction of four mansions on the site, known as Dynasty, on land that was owned or leased by Bloom Development LLC, whose founder is Chernyshov's wife.
To implement the project, "Che Guevara" assembled a Dynasty project team from people under his control.
Quote from NABU: "According to the estimates of the project participants themselves, the value of the land in Kozyn where the Dynasty construction was planned ranged at the time from US$4,000 to US$20,000 per 100 sq m of land.
Meanwhile, the mansions were to be built on plots with a total area of over eight hectares, the value of which could be in excess of US$6 million."
Background: NABU and SAPO carried out investigative actions in respect of Yermak on the evening of 11 May.
Previously:
- On 28 November 2025, Ukrainska Pravda reported that detectives from NABU and prosecutors from SAPO had conducted searches at Yermak's residence in the government quarter. Yermak confirmed the searches and said he was willing to cooperate with the investigation.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later announced Yermak's resignation. On 2 January, Zelenskyy appointed Defence Intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov as head of the President's Office.
- Yermak later declared that he would go to the front line after resigning amid a corruption scandal and the investigative actions by NABU at his residence.
- Yermak was appointed chair of a committee set up on his initiative within the National Bar Association of Ukraine (NBAU) to focus on the protection of victims of armed aggression against Ukraine, compensation mechanisms, and legal support for European integration and reconstruction.
- Following this, a committee at the National Bar Association launched a project called Lawyer+. The association said Yermak and other lawyers had travelled to the combat zone to provide legal advice to units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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