The European Union played no role in the gas accords signed in 2009 between the two ex-Soviet republics, but welcomed efforts by Russia and Ukraine to settle the gas row, EU Ukraine office head Jose Manuel Teixeira said on Monday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera last week that ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko signed the disadvantageous gas deal with Russia at the request of Germany and other European countries.
Grishchenko claimed Tymoshenko had breached the Ukrainian law requiring an approval from the Cabinet of Ministers for the gas accords in a move “to quickly resolve the gas crisis when fuel supplies to the EU countries were halted.”
The EU envoy rejected these allegations.
“The European Union has said more than once that during the crisis period the accords were signed between such sides as Russia and Ukraine and the EU did not take part in this process in any way. The sole statement made by our representatives was that we welcomed the settlement of the crisis,” Teixeira said.
Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011 for abuse of office for signing the 2009 gas deal with Russia without consulting her government.
The gas deal tied the price for Russian gas to international oil prices which have risen strongly since 2009 boosting Ukraine's bill. The contract says Ukraine must import no less than 33 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia.
Kiev insists on reducing both the price and the volume of imports.
