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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Ukraine's pro-West parties on brink of victory |
| 2007-10-03 |
| Russia threatens to cut off gas supplies Pro-Western parties on Wednesday looked certain to win Ukraine's parliamentary election, with firebrand leader Yulia Tymoshenko likely to become prime minister amid fears of new tensions with neighbouring Russia. President Viktor Yushchenko was to announce the formation of a coalition with Tymoshenko, his partner in the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution, the presidential administration said. With 99.24 percent of ballots counted, their Orange coalition had won 45 percent of the vote. The Regions Party, headed by their bitter rival, pro-Moscow Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, had 34.21 percent. Yanukovych could in theory assemble a rival coalition with 43.5 percent of the vote, just 1.5 percentage points behind the Orange team. Russia accuses democracy movements in the ex-Soviet Union of serving the interests of Western governments and the return of the Orange team was likely to irritate increasingly powerful President Vladimir Putin. The first sign of trouble came Tuesday, just as early results indicated possible victory for the Orange team, when Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom warned it would cut gas supplies next month if Ukraine failed to pay debts of more than one billion dollars. Ukraine rushed its energy minister to Moscow for talks as the political tensions remained high in Kiev. Sunday's election was held to end months of political chaos in this ex-Soviet republic of 47 million people, but the slender margin of victory for the pro-Western camp meant further wrangling was inevitable. The results indicated that the 450-seat Rada, or parliament, was likely to be heavily divided, with the Orange coalition's majority numbering only a few seats. The dispute with Russia over payments for gas sparked alarm in the European Union, which heavily depends on Ukraine for the transit of Russian energy. The the EU Commission calling for a "swift settlement" to the dispute. Although Gazprom insists that its policies are based entirely on business needs, critics accuse the giant exporter of bullying former Soviet republics that get too close to the West. "It could be Russia's way of saying that if Tymoshenko doesn't give up her prime ministerial ambitions she could have very big problems," a source closely connected to the government told AFP. Russia's Kommersant newspaper said the link was clear. "Gazprom, which held off discussing gas deliveries to Ukraine before the elections, was not slow to react to their results. Victory by the Oranges cannot suit either Russia or Gazprom," the daily wrote Wednesday. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Here's an idea: why doesn't Ukraine pay for the gas it uses? Then Gazprom can't use this excuse. Oh, they can still cut off the gas if they don't like the government, but jeez pay your bills people. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-10-03 09:29 |