Former First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Yaroslav Zheleznyak stated that the person involved in the “Mindich tapes” with the call sign “Ali Baba” is actually the head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak. On this basis, the MP publicly called on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to dismiss the head of the Office of the President due to possible involvement in corruption schemes and pressure on anti-corruption bodies.
The scandal erupted after the NABU and SAPO released audio recordings as part of Operation Midas, an investigation into large-scale corruption in the energy sector linked to businessman Timur Mindich, who is referred to in the recordings as “Carlson.” The anti-corruption authorities say they are dealing with a “high-level criminal organization” that influenced strategic enterprises, including Energoatom.
A separate episode in this story was the mention of a character with the call sign “Ali Baba”. The head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Oleksandr Klymenko, said during a public speech that the recordings show a person who, under the pseudonym “Ali Baba”, holds meetings and sets the task for law enforcement agencies to persecute NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors. According to Klymenko, this is about targeted pressure on anti-corruption agencies and attempts to “stop their activities”.
Zheleznyak, citing his own sources, claims that Andriy Yermak is behind this pseudonym. In his opinion, the decoding of the call sign leads to the initials of the head of the President's Office: "Ali-Baba" - "AB", that is, "Andriy Borisovich."
“And since he has a separate nickname, it seems to me that he was fully aware of all the events in Zuckerman's office and in Mindich's apartment,” the MP said, referring to the episodes on the recordings where corruption agreements and attempts to influence law enforcement officers are discussed.
According to Zheleznyak, Yermak was not only informed about the activities of the group to which the NABU attributes Mindich, but also allegedly maintained close ties with him. The deputy claims that the businessman played a key role in promoting Yermak to the position of head of the President's Office after the resignation of Andriy Bohdan, and it was because of this connection that the head of the OP came into the field of investigation.
Moreover, the MP believes that Yermak coordinated actions aimed at limiting the powers of the NABU and the SAPO, and also organized meetings with representatives of law enforcement agencies, at which they allegedly discussed ways to stop the investigation and “punish” individual detectives and prosecutors. It was precisely such meetings with the participation of “Ali Baba” that SAPO head Klymenko had previously hinted at, without naming specific names.
Separately, Zheleznyak stated that, according to his information, Yermak is still persuading Volodymyr Zelenskyy not to compromise in the conflict with anti-corruption structures, in particular regarding possible personnel decisions regarding the leadership of NABU and SAPO.
In connection with the allegations, the MP insists: Andriy Yermak should be dismissed from the post of head of the President's Office. In his opinion, the presence of a person who is associated with the defendants of a high-profile corruption case in the energy sector in one of the key positions in the state undermines trust in the authorities within the country and among international partners.
At the same time, Zheleznyak himself expresses doubt that Volodymyr Zelenskyy will decide to take such a step, given his long-standing personal and political ties with Yermak and his role in shaping the current configuration of power.
