Ukrainian president\u2019s chief of staff Andriy Yermak confirms search, saying he has offered \u2018full cooperation\u2019.<\/p>\n
Anticorruption authorities in Ukraine have searched the home of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s chief of staff, as a major corruption investigation<\/a> continues to roil the country and cause consternation among allies.<\/p>\n Andriy Yermak, who leads Kyiv\u2019s negotiating team concurrently trying to hash out the terms of a United States-proposed plan to end the four-year war with Russia, confirmed his apartment was being searched on Friday and said he was fully cooperating.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no obstacles for the investigators. They have been given full access to the apartment, and my lawyers are present on-site, cooperating with the law enforcement officers. From my side, there is full cooperation,\u201d he said on social media.<\/p>\n In a joint statement, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor\u2019s Office said the searches were \u201cauthorised\u201d and linked to an unspecified investigation.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the two anticorruption agencies unveiled a sweeping investigation<\/a> into an alleged $100m kickback scheme at the state atomic energy company that ensnared former senior officials and an ex-business partner of Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s searches come as the Ukrainian president faces growing pressure from the administration of United States President Donald Trump to agree to Washington\u2019s proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine war.<\/p>\n Ukraine and its European allies had raised concerns<\/a> that the Trump-backed plan comprised some elements that Russia has been actively pushing for, including that Ukraine cede additional territory and curtail the size of its military.<\/p>\n But a revised proposal<\/a> has been put forward, and Kyiv has said it is open to negotiations.<\/p>\n The searches are also likely to worsen tensions between Zelenskyy and his political opponents amid the peace negotiations.<\/p>\n In a statement on Thursday, the European Solidarity opposition party criticised Yermak\u2019s role as a negotiator and called on Zelenskyy for \u201can honest dialogue\u201d with other parties.<\/p>\n \u2018Black Friday\u2019<\/p>\n Viktor Shlinchak, a political analyst at the Kyiv-based Institute for World Politics, described the searches as a \u201cBlack Friday\u201d for Yermak and suggested Zelenskyy may be forced to dismiss him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like we may soon have a different head of the negotiating team,\u201d he wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n Yermak, 54, is Zelenskyy\u2019s most important ally, but a divisive figure in Kyiv, where his opponents say he has accumulated power, gatekeeps access to the president and ruthlessly sidelines critical voices.<\/p>\n A former film producer and copyright lawyer, Yermak came into politics with Zelenskyy in 2019, previously working with him during the now-president\u2019s time as a popular comedian.<\/p>\n He is widely considered the second-most influential man in the country and even sometimes nicknamed \u201cvice president\u201d.<\/p>\n The corruption investigation revolves around an alleged\u00a0scheme involving Energoatom, the state-run nuclear power company that supplies more than half of the country\u2019s electricity.<\/p>\n \u201cThat [case] has been swirling around Ukraine for several weeks now, rocking the government,\u201d Al Jazeera\u2019s Rory Challands reported from Kyiv on Friday. \u201cThe allegation is that some $100m \u2026 has gone through a kind of laundromat,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n Anticorruption investigators have said they suspect that Tymur Mindich, a one-time business partner of Zelenskyy, was the plot\u2019s mastermind.<\/p>\n Mindich has fled the country, with any criminal proceedings against him likely to be carried out in absentia. Two top ministers have also resigned<\/a> over the scandal.<\/p>\n