Lubinec recounted how Yermak, after being dismissed from the President’s Office, had offered him a partnership
In an interview with Radio Free Europe, he said that Yermak had phoned him in his capacity as a lawyer after he had taken over as head of a committee at the Ukrainian National Bar Association.
“He said that, as a lawyer, he was currently working to defend the rights of war victims and offered to collaborate… He suggested signing a memorandum,” Lubinets said.
The Ombudsman claims he turned Yermak down, explaining that there was no need for it.
“I believe that if I sign a memorandum with additional tools for protecting human rights, then I am automatically failing in my job,” he concluded.
Suspicions against Andriy Yermak — what is known
On 11 May, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced that they had placed former Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak under suspicion. He is suspected of involvement in a group that may have laundered 460 million hryvnias through a construction project in Kozin, Kyiv Oblast (specifically, the Dynasty housing cooperative). Yermak’s alleged actions are classified under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (legalisation (laundering) of funds).
Andriy Yermak himself denied the charges and stated that he does not own a villa in the ‘Dynasty’ housing cooperative.
On 14 May, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on Yermak — detention in custody with an alternative bail of 140 million hryvnias. He was taken into custody in the courtroom. The former head of the Presidential Office stated that he “does not have that kind of money”, but has “many friends” who could help raise the funds.
On 18 May, the full amount of bail — 140 million hryvnias — was paid on behalf of former Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak. This allowed him to be released from pre-trial detention.
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