A subject of the Mindich tapes joined the leadership of a strategic state enterprise — worked at Energoatom and was Galushchenko’s deputy

Former deputy of ex-official Herman Galushchenko and a subject of the so‑called “Mindich tapes,” Yuliia Pidkomorna, has been appointed acting member of the management board of JSC “Ukrainian Distribution Networks.” The supervisory board of UDN decided to include Pidkomorna in the company’s management board. Four other people joined the board alongside her.

At different times Pidkomorna held positions in the Cabinet of Ministers, Energoatom, Ukrgazvydobuvannia, and also served as deputy to former Minister of Energy Herman Galushchenko. According to Ekonomichna Pravda, in addition to Pidkomorna the UDN management board will include Oleksii Belotskyi, Oleksandr Baraniuk, Mykhailo Horyn, and Denys Fudashkin.

In November last year, during one of the court sessions in the “Mindichgate” case, an SAP prosecutor read a fragment of the tapes that mentions Pidkomorna’s surname in the context of appointments to government positions.

“It’s about the person Pidkomorna. Didenko brought her in, he appointed her to Atom, then took her to the ministry. I said to him: ‘Listen, how is this?’ ‘Well, she’s mine now.’ I roughly understand the methodology of how a person becomes someone’s now,” the SAP prosecutor read at the hearing.

In addition, Pidkomorna headed the Selection Commission for choosing members of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities. In that role, the publication notes, she could have helped Galushchenko’s interests by steering the “right people” into the regulator, lowering scores for candidates who were not part of that circle.

The company manages critical energy infrastructure

“Ukrainian Distribution Networks” holds state share packages in seven electricity distribution operators — Khmelnytskyioblenergo, Mykolaivoblenergo, Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, Ternopiloblenergo, Cherkasyoblenergo, Kharkivoblenergo, and Sumyoblenergo. The company provides centralized management of this critical infrastructure, so any personnel decisions in its leadership attract heightened public attention.

Pidkomorna’s appointment comes against the backdrop of the ongoing “Mindichgate” case, in which her name is mentioned and which is still before the court. The case involves former Minister of Energy Herman Galushchenko, for whom the process of selecting a preventive measure is ongoing.

A struggle over bail continues in the Galushchenko case

Earlier Informator reported that the full amount of bail was posted for ex‑minister Herman Galushchenko, with the funds provided by four firms with modest incomes. We also wrote that in the “Midas” case they decided not to increase Galushchenko’s bail to 200 million hryvnias — the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti‑Corruption Court made the corresponding decision.