VAKS considers pretrial measure for Yermak: SAP requests arrest with 180 million hryvnia bail

The High Anti-Corruption Court on May 13 continued its consideration of the question of selecting a pretrial measure for former head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, who is suspected of laundering illegally obtained funds.

The hearing began at 12:00.

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau are asking the court to remand Yermak in custody with the option of posting bail in the amount of 180 million hryvnia. Should bail be posted, the SAP is asking the court to require Yermak to surrender his foreign passports, not to leave Kyiv without permission, and to refrain from communicating with former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, his wife, and a number of other individuals named in the case.

On the previous day, during the hearing, the prosecution presented evidence of potential witness tampering in the case. Specifically, this concerns influence exerted through individuals whose names appeared on lists titled “SBU — Maximum Program.” These sheets were found at the home of Yermak’s driver during searches. The document contains plans for appointments to senior positions in the SBU, with some of the people mentioned in it already holding those positions. In addition, investigators have in their possession a “medium program” and a “minimum program” — the latter includes the name of former head of the Department of Cybersecurity Illia Vitiuk.

The suspicion notice was served on Yermak on May 11. The case concerns the construction of elite estates in the “Dynastiya” cooperative in Kozyn, Kyiv region. According to investigators, more than 460 million hryvnia (approximately €8.9 million) was laundered through this scheme between 2021 and 2025. The Presidential Office stated that “it is too early to make a final assessment.”

Yermak’s lawyer Ihor Fomin called the suspicion groundless, stating that it had been announced as a result of systematic pressure. Subsequently, Yermak himself took the same position, indicating that over recent months “there has been unprecedented public pressure on law enforcement agencies demanding that specific procedural decisions be taken against me.”