In February, MP Geo Leros alleged that Zelensky’s top officials granted top positions in ‘Energoatom’ state energy company to the individuals with close ties to Andriy Derkach. He argued that they did so to ‘repay’ the pro-Russian politician after he revealed  “Biden-Poroshenko tapes”.

Bringing in Herman Halushchenko’ to ‘Energoatom’ was supposedly a part of the deal.

In April, the alleged ties between Derkach and his protégé Halushchenko  were brought to light yet again. In his comments on Halushchenko’s Energy minister nomination, the ‘European Solidarity” leader Petro Poroshenko spoke up about the links of Halushchenko to the President’s Office.

The media reports cited ‘Servant of the People’ MP David Arakhamiya admitting that Halushchenko’s nomination was lobbied by Zelensky’s office. The MP stated that the energy sector manager ‘often had taken part in [the President’s office] meetings discussing energy issues’. This allegation links Halushchenko to Serhiy Shefir, Zelensky’s longtime business partner and top aide.

Some media stories claim that Halushchenko’s appointment was initiated by Andriy Derkach and later got endorsement from Serhiy Shefir.

The Halushchenko vote results attest this conjecture. ‘Servant of the People” MPs got backing from pro-Russian ‘Opposition Platform-For Life’ and other small fractions to pull off his appointment.

Given the fast track of this controversial nomination, it is no wonder that Verkhovna Rada speaker Dmytro Razumkov misspelled a new minister name calling him “Halushko”.