You're reading: Communist Party faction demands report on LNG terminal scandal

The Communist Party parliamentary faction has demanded that a report on the signature of an agreement on a consortium for the construction of the LNG terminal be presented at the Ukrainian parliament.

“Let’s listen to information about this shame of Ukraine,” Leader of
the Communist Party of Ukraine Petro Symonenko said at a meeting of the
parliament’s conciliatory council on Monday.

“I insist on behalf of the faction – let’s listen to information on
the signing [of the agreement] by the government led by [Ukrainian Prime
Minister Mykola] Azarov and some unknown person,” he said.

According to Symonenko, parliamentarians should know the terms on which the document was signed.

In turn, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn said that the new government should present a report to the new parliament.

“Speaking about the construction of the terminal to receive liquefied
gas, I think we should decide in the following way – the new Verkhovna
Rada should tackle this issue,” he said.

As reported, on November 26, 2012, the State Agency for Investment
and National Projects of Ukraine signed a cooperation agreement with Gas
Natural Fenosa as part of the construction of the LNG terminal in Odesa
region.

The contract’s Spanish signatory was Jordi Sarda Bonvehi, who had
earlier been said to be acting on behalf of Venezuelan company Enegas.
The latter had expressed a desire to invest in the terminal construction
project.

However, Gas Natural Fenosa and Enegas denied they had signed any
deals with the Ukrainian government. Each denied that Sarda Bonvehi
represented it. The two companies said they were not considering joining
the consortium that would run the project.

The project manager, Vitaliy Demianiuk, explained that Sarda Bonvehi
is a professional commercial agent who acts on behalf of many Spanish
companies.

“In this case, Bonvehi technically organized a visit of Gas Natural
representatives to Ukraine, and had to accompany them during the
ceremony,” Demyaniuk explained.

Demianiuk played down the potential effect of misunderstandings over the deal on the project.

The Batkivschyna United Opposition demanded that Ukrainian President
Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainian Premier Mykola Azarov, and head of the
state agency for investment Vladyslav Kaskiv be held to account for
cooperating with “an unknown Spanish investor.”