After the corruption scandal with the "Mindich tapes," Andriy Yermak resigned from the post of head of the President's Office, but continues to communicate regularly with Volodymyr Zelensky in Koncha-Zaspa. Journalist Inna Vedernikova, in her article "The Illusion of Power. What a Fatal Mistake Zelensky Could Make," notes that Yermak's resignation was more of a forced act of self-preservation than a real reset of power.
According to her, the president could have purged the power system of Yermak and Timur Mindich's people, but he has not done so yet. Yermak has remained active in political processes, being on the phone and visiting Zelensky in the evenings. Vedernikova notes that a break between Zelensky and Yermak is possible only through cooperation with the investigation or testimony against each other.
Now, Zelensky probably plans to leave the management of the Office of the President in a technical format, transferring analytical functions to other structures. Potential candidates for the temporary leadership of the Office of the President are Deputy Head Ihor Brusyl and Chief of Staff Maria Vitushok.
Vedernikova also draws attention to the delay in the replacement of a number of heads of regional state administrations and the fact that the head of Finmonitoring, Philip Pronin, remains in his post, who, according to sources, is blocking the NABU investigation. Zelenskyy's main argument, according to media reports, is the lack of suspicion against people from Yermak's entourage: "Let NABU and SAPO first prove that everyone around them is corrupt."
As a reminder, on November 28, NABU searched Yermak's apartment as part of another criminal investigation. He is linked to the "Mindich tapes," where he appears under the nickname "Ali Baba," allegedly giving instructions to law enforcement officers to put pressure on anti-corruption agencies.
