After his release, Jermak said that he was in a more comfortable cell, which his defense attorney paid for.
The entire amount was collected at 9:00 a.m. Ukrainian time on Monday. The daily Ukrainska pravda wrote that about 200 payments were made. Some contributions amounted to only one kopeck. The total amount collected exceeded 154 million hryvnias (72.8 million crowns).
Jermak’s lawyer, Ihor Fomin, noted that the amount could have been withdrawn already on Friday (May 15) evening, but “the situation stagnated” due to financial monitoring and the peculiarities of the banking system, which “has difficulty accepting” payments. Therefore, Jermak had to spend the whole weekend in custody.
According to the daily Ukrainska Pravda, the persons who sent him a larger amount are, for example, Serhij Sviriba (6.5 million hryvnias, which is 3.07 million crowns), Roza Tapanova (8 million UAH, which is 3.8 million crowns), Serhij Rebrov (30 million UAH, which is 14.8 million crowns). Jermak’s lawyer Ihor Fomin sent five million hryvnias (2.4 million crowns). In the order of hundreds of thousands of hryvnias, it was, for example, Volodymyr Petrov (80 thousand UAH, which is 37,800 crowns), Alina Voloshynová (368 thousand UAH, which is 174 thousand crowns) or Oleksandr Krykunov (500 thousand UAH, which is 236 thousand crowns).
Companies were not left behind either. Almost 100 million hryvnias were sent by seven legal entities. It is, for example, the company Miralif, registered in 2023 on the outskirts of Kyiv. The main activity of the company is the rental and management of real estate. She sent 9.8 million hryvnias (4.6 million crowns). Among others, for example, is the Forensic Research Institution, which sent him 30 million hryvnias (14.2 million crowns), the transport company Arena Marine LLC (four million hryvnias, which is 1.9 million crowns)
Jermak was one of the closest associates of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and was one of the most powerful men in the state. He is suspected of legalizing hundreds of millions of hryvnias, which could have come from, among other things, corruption around the state-owned company Enerhoatom. According to investigators, he participated in the legalization of 460 million hryvnias (217 million CZK) through the construction of luxury residences near Kyiv.
According to Ukrainská pravda, Jermak said that he does not have the money to pay the bail, but hopes for the help of friends. “I wasn’t ready for this. But, I think, I have quite a few acquaintances and friends, and I hope that they will be able to help me with this,” said Jermak.
The collected bail will allow him to leave custody and be free until the trial, writes the Unian agency. The conditions of release on bail also include the obligation to wear an electronic bracelet and to appear before the investigators whenever they request it. Jermak would also not be allowed to leave Kyiv, he would have to hand over his travel documents and he would be prohibited from contacting other suspects and witnesses.
If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison.
