MP Fedir Venislavskyi from the Servant of the People faction has said that Andrii Yermak, Head of the President's Office, should step down amid a major corruption scandal in the energy sector.

Source: Venislavskyi speaking live on Radio Liberty

Details: Venislavskyi said that there had been discussions within the Servant of the People party that "Yermak has to go", though the final decision rests with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Quote: "I have not demanded that the president dismiss Andrii Yermak, but I believe that Yermak's resignation in this case would definitely defuse some of the hype around the government [in reference to the vote in the Ukrainian parliament on the dismissal of ministers – ed.].

It is no secret that the government was formed largely after certain candidates had been approved in the Office of the President – whether that was by the president himself, or by joint decision-making, I cannot say because I do not have that information.

And indeed, there were many conversations among the Servant of the People's MPs today that Yermak has to go, but the decision on appointing the head of the Office of the President is the president's decision. We will see what decision he will take, when he returns and announces it."

More details: Venislavskyi said that the trigger for the talk of Yermak's resignation was information voiced by MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak from the Holos party, who claimed that the person referred to as "Ali Baba" on tapes released by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) as part of the Midas investigation is Andrii Yermak.

NABU has neither confirmed nor denied this information, but earlier Oleksandr Klymenko, the head of Ukraine's Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), said that "a certain 'Ali Baba' is holding meetings and issuing instructions to put pressure on NABU and SAPO".

Background: It was reported earlier that key figures in government close to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are advising him to dismiss Andrii Yermak following the high-profile Midas investigation by NABU.

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