Andrii Yermak’s new victories: what reshuffle on Bankova Street shows

Moreover, these may not be the last changes among the deputies.

Rumors of the rotation of the office on Bankova Street have been circulating for a long time, but while in early 2023 the media kept trying to convince us that the United States would force Oleh Tatarov's resignation, by the end of last year, they were talking more often about Rostyslav Shurma.

However, neither the former nor the latter was affected by this wave. In particular, because of the good relations with the head of the Office.

Andrii Smirnov is another matter.

Smirnov was appointed deputy back in September 2019, when the Office was headed by Andrii Bohdan. He was in charge of legal policy, law enforcement and judicial systems.

Over time, in this area of influence, Smirnov began to seriously clash with Oleh Tatarov, whose influence on the law enforcement and judicial systems was only growing.

Notably, there have been rumors of Smirnov's dismissal since 2021.

At that time, journalistic sources pointed out that Smirnov "too often has his own opinion and tries to convey alternative information to the president, which irritates Andrii Borysovich."

The current version of one of the reasons for his dismissal is as follows: "The fact that Smirnov liked to meet with journalists together with Andrii Bohdan's people and leak information to them did no good for him."

According to Censor.NET's source, the conflict with Tatarov also played a role.

"Just like with Danilov, this decision was a long-prepared one. Many factors played a role, including journalists' investigations into luxury real estate," adds another source.

This is obviously a story by Mykhailo Tkach on UP from February last year about how Smirnov's brother Ihor bought an apartment in an elite new building in Lviv, a land plot in the Carpathians, a parking space in Kyiv, as well as a Volkswagen Multivan, a BMW, and a motorcycle.

According to official documents, the apartment, the land plot, and the parking space were purchased at a significant discount.  According to his brother, he borrowed it off.

The journalist then reminded in the story that luxury real estate is often used as a bribe to officials.

Smirnov himself called the story a revenge of Andrii Portnov. He also added that his brother is an adult who "knows how to live and negotiate independently without outside help."

Another reason for Smirnov's dismissal was the president's dissatisfaction with his results in establishing an international tribunal to convict Russia for crimes committed in Ukraine.

"For that matter, Mudra worked much harder on this. So it is logical that she will get this position," the source said.

Since 2022, Iryna Mudra has worked as Deputy Minister of Justice. Prior to that, she worked at the State Savings Bank of Ukraine.

Oleksii Dniprov joined the Office of the President in the summer of 2021. Prior to that, from April 2016 to July 2021, Oleksii Dniprov was the Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, then the OP.

According to the publication's sources, Dniprov may soon head one of the universities. In a comment to Censor.NET, the former deputy head of the OP  noted that this is still a long way to go, and first, he needs to gain the trust of the staff. According to him, he has long wanted to return to the education sector.

"But it is definitely not with the help of the authorities. Not by exchanging positions. This is my personal path. I have long dreamed of returning to the field," said Dniprov.

Olena Kovalska will take his place. Prior to that, she served as the head of the office of the head of the Office of the President and was also a member of the presidential working group on the creation of an international tribunal.

Kovalska has a degree in engineering and marketing. She has been working in the Office since 2021, starting as the head of the Main Department of Strategic Communications of the Directorate for Information Policy in the OP.

Both Mudra and Kovalska were named by the publication's sources as close to Yermak.

According to Censor.NET's interlocutors, the head of the Office is counting on the new deputies, as well as some MPs, to improve relations with the Republicans. After all, the issue of providing weapons to Ukraine has not yet been resolved.

On February 13, the U.S. Senate approved a $95.3 billion international aid bill that includes funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. However, Congress has not yet taken action on the bill.

Improving relations with the Republicans is also important in the context of the upcoming US elections, where Donald Trump is once again likely to win. As you know, Trump has bad memories of the Ukrainian government, because they did not help him in his fight against Joe Biden ( due to the discredit of his son on the gas issue), but Rudy Giuliani's reputation was destroyed by his maneuvers in Ukraine. It was he who negotiated with the Ukrainian authorities and actually put pressure on them.

In 2021, Giuliani's communication with influential Ukrainian oligarchs and government officials became the basis for an FBI investigation.

Therefore, establishing relations with Republicans through various National Pray Breakfasts becomes a very important task for the Office.

As for the rotation of the office, it is possible that these are not the last replacements.

As you know, journalists' sources reported that the Deputy Head of the Office, Andrii Sybiha, may also be dismissed. The diplomat and lawyer are to be transferred to the Foreign Ministry.

For six months now, Sybiha has been called a possible new head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "So far, it hasn't come to this for one simple reason: it's getting harder to gather votes in the Rada for anything," says the source.

"Of course, if the president asks for it, there will be votes. But if Yermak asks, Arakhamiia says yes, but he is in no hurry to fulfill hir promise," the source adds.

Another candidate for a change in the sphere of activity is traditionally called the deputy head of the Office of the President Rostyslav Shurma, who has also been pursued by scandals recently, in particular, because of his brother's solar power plants in the occupied territory.

Theoretically, Shurma could head the fund for the restoration of Ukraine, and the head of the Lviv administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, could be appointed in his place. But this is still theorizing.

On Saturday, the president also dismissed Serhii Shefir from the post of his first aide. In fact, Shefir retired a long time ago (after the assassination attempt) and ceased to be a trustee in contacts, including with oligarchs. As for his influence on the president, Yermak celebrated his victory in this battle long ago. At the same time, Serhii Shefir is a person of interest in the NABU case against the head of the State Property Fund (SPF), Dmytro Sennychenko, for embezzlement of funds from the Odesa Portside Plant and the United Mining and Chemical Company. In the interrogation materials on the case of the SPF management, former deputy chairman Serhii Ihnatovskyi says that, according to the head of the fund, Dmytro Sennychenko, Hmyryn organized a "protection" for them on Bankova Street. And he named Serhii Shefir as one of his unspoken patrons. This name also appears in the published materials of criminal intelligence and surveillance operations. However, there is no information about any investigative actions against Shefir.

Tetiana Nikolaienko, Censor. NET