Prosecutors to seek detention or US$4 million bail for Zelenskyy's former chief of staff Yermak

Oleksandr Klymenko, Head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), has said during a briefing that prosecutors will seek pre-trial detention for Andrii Yermak, former head of the Office of the President, with the alternative of bail, in the case concerning the construction of the high-end Dynastiia ("Dynasty") housing complex in Kozyn, near Kyiv.

Source: live broadcast of a NABU and SAPO briefing on 12 May

Quote from Klymenko: "The prosecution will ask the court to impose a preventive measure [for Andrii Yermak – ed.] in the form of detention with the alternative of bail in the amount of UAH 180 million [US$4 million]."

Details: Earlier, NABU and SAPO served notices of suspicion on six other members of the organised group implicated in laundering UAH 460 million (US$10.5 million) via the high-end construction project.

Previously:

• NABU and SAPO conducted investigative actions in respect of Andrii Yermak on the evening of 11 May.
• Later, Yermak was formally served with a notice of suspicion in a case concerning the alleged laundering of UAH 460 million (around US$10.5 million) during the construction of the Dynastiia housing complex. According to investigators, some of the funds used for the construction may have originated from corruption schemes at Energoatom.
• Yermak has commented on the notice of suspicion, saying that he owns "only one car and one apartment".
• Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, has also commented on the case, saying that "this context has existed for a long time, so there is nothing surprising about it".

Background:

• On 28 November 2025, Ukrainska Pravda reported that detectives from NABU and prosecutors from SAPO had carried out searches at Andrii Yermak's office in Kyiv's government quarter. Yermak confirmed that the searches were taking place and said he was ready to cooperate with the investigation.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later announced that Yermak had stepped down as head of the President's Office. On 2 January, Zelenskyy appointed Kyrylo Budanov, head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, as the new head of the President's Office.
• Yermak later declared that he was going to the front line after resigning amid the corruption scandal and investigative actions by NABU at his home.
• He subsequently became chair of a committee established on his initiative within the National Bar Association of Ukraine to focus on the protection of victims of armed aggression against Ukraine, compensation mechanisms, and legal support for Ukraine's European integration and reconstruction.
• The committee later launched a project called Lawyer+. The National Bar 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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