Andriy Borysovych Yermak (Ukrainian: Андрій Борисович Єрмак; born 21 November 1971)[2] is a Ukrainian politician and former film producer who was appointed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy to serve as the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine from 11 February 2020.[1] Yermak is also a member of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the highest command and control body for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He has been described as Zelensky’s right-hand man and a "real power broker" in Ukraine.[3] In 2023, Politico called him Kyiv's "Green Cardinal."[4] In 2024, Time named Yermak to their annual list of 100 most influential people in the world.[5]
Biography
Andriy Yermak was born on 21 November 1971 in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union).[2] Yermak's Russian-born mother Maria met his Kyiv native father Borys on a school trip of a Leningrad school to Kyiv.[6] Yermak's father is Jewish.[7] They met through mutual acquaintances.[6] The couple married in 1971 and she moved to Kyiv.[6] Yermak has a brother Denys, who is 8 years younger.[6]
In 1990, he started and in 1995 graduated from Kyiv's Taras Shevchenko National University's Institute of International Relations with a master's degree in international private law.[2][6] The same year he received his license for law practice.[2] In his second year of university, at the request of one of his teachers, he started working for the law company Proxen.[6] He is also a member the Association of Lawyers of Ukraine.[citation needed]
In 1997, Yermak founded the International Law Firm and was engaged in the field of intellectual property and commercial law.[1] Between 2006 and 2014 he, in his profession as lawyer, aided Party of Regions MP Elbrus Tedeyev.[8][1] In 2009, he founded and headed the public organization "Association of Entrepreneurs of the City of Kyiv".[citation needed]
In the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, he was a proxy of candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kyiv's 216th constituency.[6] In 2011 he became the head of the “Association of Small Business Owners”.[9]
He founded the Garnet International Media Group in 2012[10] and is the producer of such films as Rule of Battle [Wikidata] and The Line.[11] He is a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy, and a member of the European Film Academy (2017).
Yermak became acquainted with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2011, when Zelenskyy was the general producer of the TV channel Inter.[8] The two became friends.[8] He worked in Zelenskyy's election campaign team in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[6]
On 21 May 2019, newly elected President Zelenskyy appointed Yermak as Presidential Aide for Foreign Policy Issues.[1] In this role he negotiated major prison exchanges with Russia during the war in Donbas.[12]
He was the point of contact for Kurt Volker and Rudy Giuliani on behalf of Zelenskyy during the buildup of the Trump–Ukraine scandal.[13] Yermak promised that, in response to their request, Zelensky would publicly pledge to investigate Burisma, a company that employed Hunter Biden. However, Zelensky never made such a public statement.[13]
President Zelenskyy appointed Yermak as Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine on 11 February 2020.[1] He became a member of the National Security and Defense Council the following day.[14] As the Head of the President's Office, his duties are to provide administrative, legal, consultative, advisory, media, analytical and other assistance and support to the President.[citation needed]
Yermak was appointed chairman of the Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian and Social Affairs on 2 March 2022.[15]
Personal life
Yermak has lived in Kyiv his whole life. He is Jewish, single and has no children.[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f Zelensky dismisses head of president's office Bohdan, appoints Yermak instead, Interfax-Ukraine (11 February 2020)
- ^ a b c d e Yermak replaces Bohdan as head of President's Office, 112 Ukraine (11 February 2020)
- ^ Ukraine's real power broker. Is Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's right-hand man, handing war-torn Ukraine over to the oligarchs? by Paul Starobin, Business Insider, 18 December 2023
- ^ "Andriy Yermak". POLITICO. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
- ^ "Andriy Yermak: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024". TIME. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Who is Mr. Yermak? Lawyer. Businessman. Producer. Vice-president?". Ukrayinska Pravda. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ Berman, Lazar. "Top Zelensky adviser opens up about his Jewish roots, urges greater Israeli support". Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ a b c "Who is Mr Yermak? 10 quotes from the new head of the President's Office". Glavcom. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ "Підприємці оскаржать заборону на продаж сигарет і алкоголю в кіосках". Українська правда - Київ. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Andriy Yermak at IMDb
- ^ Another assistant to the President was film producer Ermak, Ukrinform (21 May 2019)
- ^ "Bohdan turbo mode. As he broke into the team of Zelensky and left the OPU head". Ukrainska Pravda. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Andriy Yermak replaces Andriy Bohdan as head of presidential office". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ "Decree of the President of Ukraine № 52/2020" (in Ukrainian). Office of the President of Ukraine. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- ^ "Zelensky creates Coordinating Office for Humanitarian and Social Issues". Interfax Ukraine. 3 March 2022. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
External links
- Andriy Yermak at IMDb
- Andriy Yermak on Facebook
- Andriy Yermak on Telegram
- Ukraine's President Appoints Chief Of Staff Linked To Trump's Lawyer on YouTube – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 12 February 2020
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