Andriy Yermak | |
|---|---|
Андрій Єрмак | |
.jpg) Yermak in 2023 | |
| Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine | |
| Assumed office 11 February 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Andriy Bohdan[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 November 1971 Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) |
| Political party | Independent |
| Education | Taras Shevchenko National University[2] |
| Occupation | Politician |
Andriy Borysovych Yermak (Ukrainian: Андрій Борисович Єрмак; born 21 November 1971)[2] is a Ukrainian 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 was described as Zelensky’s right-hand man, and a "real power broker" of Ukraine.[3]
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.[4] Yermak's father is Jewish.[5] They met through mutual acquaintances.[4] The couple married in 1971 and she moved to Kyiv.[4] Yermak has a brother Denys, who is 8 years younger.[4]
In 1990, Andriy Yermak 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][4] 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.[4] 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.[6][1] In 2009, he founded and headed the public organization "Association of Entrepreneurs of the City of Kyiv".
In the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, Yermak was a proxy of candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kyiv's 216th constituency.[4] In 2011 he became the head of the “Association of Small Business Owners”.[7]
Yermak founded the Garnet International Media Group in 2012[8] and is the producer of such films as Rule of Battle [Wikidata] and The Line.[9] 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.[6] The two became friends.[6] Yermak worked in Zelenskyy's election campaign team in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[4]
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.[10]
Yermak was the point of contact for Kurt Volker and Rudy Giuliani on behalf of Zelenskyy during the buildup of the Trump–Ukraine scandal.[11] 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 public statement.[11]
President Zelenskyy appointed Yermak as Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine on 11 February 2020.[1] Yermak became a member of the National Security and Defense Council the following day.[12] 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.[13]
Yermak has lived in Kyiv his whole life. He is single and has no children.[4]
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