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 2024, Time named Yermak to their annual list of 100 most influential people in the world.[4]
Andriy Yermak | |
|---|---|
Андрій Єрмак | |
.jpg) Yermak in 2023 | |
| Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine | |
| Assumed office 11 February 2020 | |
| President | Volodymyr Zelenskyy |
| Preceded by | Andriy Bohdan[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 November 1971 Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Kyiv, Ukraine) |
| Political party | Independent |
| Education | Taras Shevchenko National University[2] |
| Occupation | Politician |
Biography
editAndriy 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.[5] Yermak's father is Jewish.[6] They met through mutual acquaintances.[5] The couple married in 1971 and she moved to Kyiv.[5] Yermak has a brother Denys, who is 8 years younger.[5]
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][5] 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.[5] He is also a member the Association of Lawyers of Ukraine.
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.[7][1] In 2009, he founded and headed the public organization "Association of Entrepreneurs of the City of Kyiv".
In the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, he was a proxy of candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kyiv's 216th constituency.[5] In 2011 he became the head of the “Association of Small Business Owners”.[8]
He founded the Garnet International Media Group in 2012[9] and is the producer of such films as Rule of Battle [Wikidata] and The Line.[10] 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.[7] The two became friends.[7] He worked in Zelenskyy's election campaign team in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[5]
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.[11]
He was the point of contact for Kurt Volker and Rudy Giuliani on behalf of Zelenskyy during the buildup of the Trump–Ukraine scandal.[12] 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.[12]
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.[13] 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.
Yermak was appointed chairman of the Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian and Social Affairs on March 2, 2022.[14]
Personal life
editYermak has lived in Kyiv his whole life. He is Jewish, single and has no children.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ 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, December 18, 2023
- ^ "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.