Budanov controls presidential finances, but Yermak’s 'ghost' lingers – ex-MP

“I get the impression that today, Kyrylo Budanov is running the Office's accounting department, acting as a sort of head of state affairs – what was previously called the DUS (State Directorate of Affairs – ed.),” Hryniv told Radio NV. “Yet the ghost of Yermak is present in all of these decisions.”

He concluded that backroom politics, which had always existed in Ukraine, have now begun to dominate the landscape.

“In the past, tools existed – like coalitions, or at least fig leaves that covered up such choices. Today, nobody pays attention to that anymore,” the political strategist explained.

Replacement of Andriy Yermak by Kyrylo Budanov as Head of the Presidential Office

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) conducted searches at the residence and office of Andriy Yermak on November 28, 2025, as part of Operation Midas, a large-scale corruption investigation into Ukraine's energy sector.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in his evening address on November 28 that Andriy Yermak had submitted his resignation.

President Zelenskyy announced on January 2, 2026, that he had tapped military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov to head the Presidential Office, signing the official appointment decree that same day.

NABU and SAPO officially charged former Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak with money laundering on May 11, 2026. He was suspected of laundering UAH460 million ($10.5 million) through a Kyiv Oblast property development scheme (the Dynasty real estate corruption scandal).

Yermak faced up to 12 years in prison under Ukrainian law for alleged money laundering.

Yermak denied the accusations, stating that he does not own a home in the Dynasty cooperative.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ordered Yermak jailed pending trial on May 14, with bail set at 140 million hryvnias ($3.6 million). Following the ruling, Yermak was taken into custody directly from the courtroom and held in pretrial detention until he posted bail.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court appeals chamber upheld the pretrial restraint measure against Yermak, including the bail set at $3.6 million.

Media outlets reported that Yermak retained influence over key state decisions, with Ukrayinska Pravda reporting on July 24, 2026, that he and Servant of the People faction leader David Arakhamia had opposed appointing Mykhailo Fedorov as head of the Presidential Office in late 2025.

Ukrayinska Pravda also obtained leaked text messages from December 2025 between Yermak and an astrologer named Veronika Feng Shui, in which he asked for advice regarding President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plan to appoint Mykhailo Fedorov as Minister of Defense.