You're reading: Financial Times: Tymoshenko gas deal probed ahead of Putin’s Kyiv visit

Roman Olearchyk writes:On the eve of a visit to Kyiv by Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, Ukrainian prosecutors on April 11 launched a criminal case against ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, accusing her of illegally brokering a natural gas supply contract with him in January 2009.

The news fuelled speculation that Ukraine could challenge the two-year-old agreement which brought sharply higher gas import prices while ending a bitter stand-off that cut off European supplies. But such plans could stoke negative tensions ahead of Putin’s April 12 visit, during which he is expected to meet Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president.

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