continues

Yermak does not shy away from long working days and primarily directs using his cell phone. He and Selensky often spend the night in the presidential office, says journalist Trubetskoy. "Yermak has no wife, he is always available, and Zelensky appreciates that. On the other hand, he does not like it when his ministers sit in restaurants for long periods." But in the country itself, Yermak is not very popular - despite his omnipresent nature.

Davydiuk reports that rumors are circulating in Kiev that Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal should be replaced so that Yermak can hold the position. Then he would have to take political responsibility for his decisions. After the war is over, the issue will certainly have to be dealt with more closely.

Like the president, Yermak, who is six years older than him, was not in politics before Zelensky was elected president in 2019. They had already worked together, Yermak as a media lawyer and producer, Zelensky as an actor and comedy star, who brought some of his companions from the world of entertainment into politics. Among them was Yermak, now 52, ​​who did not initially have a prominent role. He organized his boss's schedule in the Ukrainian presidential office. Zelensky has since separated from almost all of his other early employees.

Initially, Yermak coordinated the president's schedule and became a negotiator for the prisoner exchange with Russia. After Zelensky had been in office for nine months, he made Yermak head of the presidential office in early 2020. Since then, he has been involved in all major foreign policy processes or even managed them for Ukraine - such as the negotiations with Ukraine's so-called partners, the peace summit in Switzerland, the return of the abducted Ukrainian children or the prisoner exchange.

In fact, observers agree here too, Yermak acts as the foreign minister. Trubetskoy sums it up like this: "He is Zelensky's top diplomat, and the president listens to him on all personnel issues." Yermak is responsible for relations with the USA, he has a close connection to the White House. In July, Yermak - not the foreign minister - traveled to the USA to discuss, among other things, possible military targets in Russia and to coordinate joint action.

The Presidential Office moderates all political processes very closely itself. Important topics, such as the next peace conference, sanctions against Russia or a special tribunal to punish Russian crimes, go through the Presidential Office and thus through Yermak. The ministries are subordinate in areas that seem important to the Presidential Office.

Yermak's original task of coordinating the President's schedule and granting access to him has remained insofar as he and his team still manage who the President meets. He therefore also has control over who is close to the President and who is not. As a result, there are fewer and fewer people who have direct access to Zelenskyj without going through Yermak, says Trubetskoy.

Yermak has a strong influence on the President's personnel table in general. There are hardly any politicians in the government - "they are more like managers," says Trubetskoy. If a minister or official crosses Yermak's red lines, says one who has experienced this, then their political career is over.

If, for example, someone acts too independently or is too close to the president and thus escapes Yermak's control, Yermak replaces these positions with his people. The last prominent example of the pattern was Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who had to vacate his position at the beginning of September. His successor, Andriy Syibiha, was previously one of Yermak's deputies in the presidential office. And the Minister for Reconstruction, Oleksiy Kuleba, who is responsible for particularly large budgets, was also previously deputy head of the presidential office. His boss there was Andriy Yermak.

The article is google-translated. Read the original here.

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