Due to the contracts signed by Yulia Tymoshenko in 2009, Ukraine will be overpaying from 3 to 5 billion USD for gas annually up to the year 2019.

On April 10 a press conference of Ukrainian officials was held at the premises of NCI European Parliament in Brussels, with the participation of European journalists, experts and community leaders. The topic of the press conference is “Why is Y. Tymoshenko still in jail?”

These results have already been reported to the Ukrainian Parliament’s deputies on March 20, 2012. After hearing the report, 266 people’s deputies out of 450 agreed with the Commission’s arguments. These are the results of the work of the parliamentary Provisional Investigatory Commission.

The Provisional Investigatory Commission has been working for the period from March 2011 to March 20, 2012 in accordance with the following principles:

а) The Commission’s conclusions were made solely on the basis of documents received through official channels;

b) The Commission’s work was carried out with the participation of the representatives of the governmental bodies as well as the opposition in an open mode;

The results of the Commission’s work had shown that during the negotiations and signing of the gas contracts the Prime Minister Tymoshenko violated the following rules:

а) concealed from the public and the authorities the facts of the conflict of interests and dependence on Russia – namely, the debt of her private companies to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in amount of 405 million US dollars and the criminal case on a charge of bribery;

b) held secret negotiations with the Prime Minister of Russia, in the result of which she agreed to the signing of unfair contracts that violated the provisions of the previous international agreements;

c) knowing that the government of Ukraine had refused to approve the Directives on signing of the contracts, approved them personally, though, only the Cabinet of Ministers, as the collegial body, has the right for such approval;

d) put pressure on the head of the company and made him sign the contracts, threatening him with the dismissal.

In accordance with the comparative analysis of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and other European countries it was proved that 11 EU member states have articles providing the punishment under the criminal law for such crimes.

Image Courtesy of    Telekhovskyi / Shutterstock.com

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Former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko could be pardoned under a new Criminal Procedure Code now being introduced as part of the country’s pro-European Union reform agenda.

Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych said that if her sentence remains in force after the code becomes law, he will consider any pardon request from her because he wants the “right solution” according to “European standards.”

Tymoshenko was last year jailed for seven years for exceeding her authority as Prime Minister in concluding a 2009 gas contract with Russia. That deal has since resulted in he                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    r country paying significantly higher prices for Russian gas than its neighbours.

The Yanukovych government maintains that it has always kept its distance from the court proceedings against Tymoshenko. The President says as things now stand, he cannot legally grant her a pardon. Only the completion of court procedures and the introduction of new laws will give him the latitude to free Tymoshenko once her appeal has been heard.

“Once we get a solution of the Court of Appeal…if we adopt the Criminal Procedure Code, I think we will have such a possibility,” he said on Ukrainian TV.

“I am for this matter to be considered under the new Criminal Procedure Code.”

The Code is now working its way through the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) and is one of a number of reforms the Yanukovych has championed to bring his nation in line with EU countries and to express Ukraine’s “European identity.”

Ukraine has also initiated wide-ranging economic reforms and the President last week honoured his pledge to revitalise his cabinet by bringing in three new ministers, including an opposition-linked businessman Petro Poroshenko, as minister for economic development and trade.

Yanukovych said that later this year the EU and other nations will be able to witness fair, free and transparent elections in Ukraine.

“I stand for a fair fight by the rules. There is the law. I am for implementation of this law and fight by the rules according to it,” he said.

“I always stress that this is the first big election to be held by the current power, and of course we must show that we are a civilized country (and) a European country.”

Yanukovych has long maintained Ukraine’s future lies in the European Union and getting a signed Association Agreement with Brussels is the next important step on the long road to EU membership.

Yanukovych has also had to cope with pressure from Russia, which is asking its neighbours to sign a Customs Agreement that would create a Russia-centric free trade alternative to the European Union. Ukraine also recently suffered, along with the EU, unilateral cuts of gas supplies by Gazprom during the cold spell.

Image Courtesy of  Mark III Photonics / Shutterstock.com

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Ukraine has moved up 15 places in the World Press Freedom Index [http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html ] published this week, reflecting an improved media landscape in the nation during what proved to be a year of critical world attention.

Ukraine climbed from 131 to 116 on the international table placing it well above many former Soviet republics such as Tajikistan at 122, Russia at 142, Kazakhstan 154, Uzbekistan 157 and Belarus 168out of the 178 countries surveyed globally. The World Press Freedom Index 2011/2012 was produced by Reporters Without Borders.

The boost to Ukraine’s ranking in 2011 reflects a more relaxed working and reporting environment for both domestic journalists and those who visited the country during a year of difficult long-running issues. The trial of Yulia Tymoshenko for abuse of office in committing the cabinet, without consultation, to very high gas prices with Russia in 2009 drew sustained critical reportage both domestically and internationally and the on-going gas dispute with Russia has also been featured.

“While we don’t agree with many foreign assessments of media freedom in our country the Government of Ukraine notes the substantial improvement in our global ranking from Reporters Without Borders,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.

“Last year showed that journalists in this country are free to cover the important issues whether favourable or unfavourable to the government.

“We invite those same journalists to also report the story of Ukraine’s economic improvements, our commitment to our European identity, and the progress toward an Association Agreement with the European Union,” the spokesman said.

A new Electoral Law, modelled on the Council of Europe’s recommendations and requirements, was recently approved by the Ukraine’s Parliament with the support of both the Government and the Opposition. This should set the scene for fair and democratic elections next October.

The EU has significant economic interests in the country, with considerable imports of natural gas that transit Ukraine, and trade valued at some EUR40 billion a year. In 2011 Ukraine’s GDP grew by 5.2 percent and inflation declined from nine percent to five percent.

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