Ukraine: political crisis over Russian gas deal[fr][de]

Published: Wednesday 11 January 2006 | Updated: Friday 29 June 2007

Ukraine is facing a political crisis after its parliament punished the Yekhanurov government for accepting a Russian gas deal. The crisis creates further concerns for the EU's security of energy supply.

Background:

Ukraine's parliament punished its government with a vote of no confidence vote following a controversial gas deal with Russia (see EurActiv 9 January 2006). The vote comes just a few months before new parliamentary elections in March and electoral profiling may therefore have been a factor.

Ukraine's President Yushchenko called the vote unconstitutional. The vote will have no effect on the gas deal itself as that agreement was made between the Russian company Gazprom and Ukraine gas company Naftogaz.

Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was sacked in September, was one of the leading forces behind the move. She announced that she might take legal steps to annul the Gazprom-Naftogaz agreement.

Other related news:

The political crisis in the Ukraine underlines the instability of the Ukrainian system and might lead the EU to think twice when considering its future relationships with the Orange Revolution country. Political commentators see a possibility that the March elections might see a comeback of the pro-Moscow political bloc.

Although not immediately endangering future gas supplies, the parliament vote will also add to Europe's fears of becoming too dependent on Russian gas deliveries via Ukranian pipelines. Rising oil prices, increasing energy dependency on unstable regimes like the Middle East and the fear of Russia using its 'gas wealth' as a geopolitical weapon have put energy issues high on the EU's political agenda.

Next steps:

The parliamentary elections in the Ukraine will take place on 26 March 2006.
The EU's Spring Summit (23-24 March) is expected to focus on the future of a common European energy policy.