Gas arrest

Before Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexey Miller had time to reassure Ukraine that he would not fine Naftogaz for gas shortages, Naftogaz found itself at the center of an internal Ukrainian scandal. On March 4, armed men in masks and camouflage, who later turned out to be employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), entered the building of the joint-stock company. On March 2, a criminal case was opened against officials of Naftogaz of Ukraine for the seizure of 6.3 billion cubic meters of transit natural gas worth over 7.4 billion hryvnia by prior conspiracy with a group of persons.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko announced the purchase of natural gas that previously belonged to the Swiss trader RosUkrEnergo, and added that this gas has already been cleared through customs. The SBU calls this operation illegal.

The SBU announced that investigative actions are carried out in accordance with the law, investigators are checking “what they need.” Verkhovna Rada deputy Andrei Portnov accused the Security Service of seizing all Ukrainian gas, and he personally asked the first deputy of the SBU, Valery Khoroshkovsky, whether he has the moral right to investigate a case in which the well-known Dmitry Firtash (co-owner of RosUkrEnergo) is an interested party. Khoroshkovsky himself appears. Deputies of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc arrived at the Naftogaz building and started a fight with SBU officers. First Deputy Prime Minister, former head of the SBU Oleksandr Turchynov called on the Security Service employees not to carry out the orders of the leadership.

All this, however, did not stop Naftogaz press secretary Valentin Zemlyansky from reporting that the company would still pay Gazprom for February. Gazprom expressed satisfaction. Turchinov did not rule out that the actions of the special services would disrupt settlements with Russia.

Later, the Shevchenkovsky District Court of Kyiv suspended the investigative actions of the SBU, Portnov said. The SBU, however, stated that it was not aware of this decision.

President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko supported the actions of the SBU.