In response to a request regarding the situation with the dismissals, the president's office stated: “In connection with the dismissal of the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, all individuals holding the positions of assistants and advisors (both staff and freelance) were dismissed from their positions.”
The dismissal occurred in accordance with part 3 of article 92 of the law “On State Service,” according to which labor relations are terminated on the day the powers of the appointing person expire.
The list of dismissed employees has not been made public; however, it is known that as of December 2024, Ermak had nine advisors. The staff advisors included: Alexander Bevz, Lilia Pashinna, Victoria Romanova, and Tatiana Haiduchenko, while the freelance advisors included: Sergey Leshchenko, Daria Zarivna (who resigned in the summer), Mikhail Podolyak, Elina Elyanova, and Alexander Rodnyansky.
On December 19, the publication “Detector Media” reported on the dismissals that had occurred. Leshchenko, commenting on the situation, noted that he continues to work as a freelance advisor to the president's office.
Podolyak also confirmed in a conversation with “Detector Media” that he remains an advisor in the president's office.
At the end of November, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ermak had submitted his resignation. He had held the position of head of the office since February 2020 and was considered one of the closest allies of the president, with media even calling him the second most influential person in the country after Zelensky. Following the emergence of a corruption scandal related to embezzlement in “Energoatom,” both opponents and allies of Zelensky called for Ermak's dismissal.
Zelensky has already mentioned several candidates for the vacant position, but has not yet appointed a new head of his office.
