A request by Dmytro Firtash, co-owner of Swiss-registered gas trader RosUkrEnergo to speak in the Verkhovna Rada should be discussed at the conciliatory council, and then a decision should be passed on whether to submit this issue to the agenda of the parliament's session, Verkhovna Rada Procedure Committee Head Oleksandr Yefremov (Regions Party) said on Thursday.
It is the right of [Verkhovna Rada Speaker] Volodymyr Lytvyn to submit this issue to the conciliatory council. If they don’t [let Firtash speak], it means they are afraid he [Firtash] will answer all accusations that he hears from the prime minister today,” he said.
At the same time, Yefremov said, the Regions Party wouldn’t object to Firtash’s speaking in parliament.
Firtash requested to MPs and the speaker personally that he be allowed to speak at the Verkhovna Rada rostrum to give his account of his company’s activities.
RosUkrEnergo is at the center of the Ukraine-Russia gas dispute. Many are insisting the exlusive intermediary for Ukrainian gas imports is a corrupt, needless entity. Those who want to scrap RosUkrEnergo’s interference say Ukraine and Russia would benefit by direct, transparent transactions.
