Oleh Lyashko, the leader of the Radical Party, is known for his radical methods of politicking — kissing cows, eating soil, singing karaoke and picking fights.
But when the former lawmaker confronted and tussled with Andriy Gerus, the head of the parliamentary energy and utilities committee, at Kyiv’s main airport, he caught even seasoned observers of Ukraine off guard.
Voted out of office in May, Lyashko confronted Gerus as the lawmaker sat in the VIP terminal at Boryspil International Airport.
Lyashko accused Gerus of opening the way for energy imports from Russia, calling it a betrayal of Ukraine’s national interests. The Radical Party leader was on the offensive throughout the confrontation, jabbing his finger into Gerus’s chest, shoving him against a wall and ripping his shirt. Gerus pushed Lyashko back and batted his hand away.
“On whose money are you here?” Lyashko was heard yelling throughout the fight.
The altercation was recorded on video. Neither man was injured, but Gerus walked away with a torn shirt.
Police have opened an investigation into the brawl, according to the Kyiv Oblast police’s press secretary. The investigation was opened at the request of the aviation security service.
At the root of the fight is Gerus’s controversial amendment that allows the purchase of electricity from countries that are not members of Europe’s Energy Community – namely, Russia. Parliament approved the amendment on Sept. 18, and President Volodymyr Zelensky signed it into law. The first imports took place at the start of October, the first energy imports from Russia since 2015.
United Energy, a company which supplies power to billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky’s companies, was the first to receive Russian energy. Other companies reported to have imported energy in October include are Yaroslav Mudriy and Dale Perry’s ERU Trading, former politician Serhiy Tigipko’s TAS Energy and a subsidiary of oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK.
At the time, Gerus explained the move by saying that it promotes competition in Ukraine’s electricity market, which could lead to lower electricity prices for industrial consumers. Commercial energy costs have been a constant refrain for Gerus in the past several months.
But many critics blasted Gerus for decreasing Ukraine’s energy independence and putting it at the mercy of Russia, amid the war Russia has waged against Ukraine in the Donbas region.
Critics also accused Gerus of helping Kolomoisky, who owns many industrial enterprises throughout Ukraine. Kolomoisky has long been locked in a dispute with rival billionaire tycoon Akhmetov, who owns Ukraine’s largest private energy conglomerate.
“Today, I happened to see the ‘servant of the people,’ Gerus, who opened up the import of Russian energy,” Lyashko wrote on his Facebook account. Gerus is a member of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party.
“When the Russian lobbyist ran out of arguments, he started waving his arms… Because of Gerus’s betrayal, Ukraine has fallen into energy dependency from the aggressor country. This betrayal needs to be investigated and punished.”
Gerus countered with his own Facebook statement, saying that Lyashko was in the pocket of Akhmetov.
“Today, a well-known defender of Akhmetov’s business interests, forgotten by all, Lyashko, was waiting for me at Boryspil airport to arrange a show provocation,” Gerus wrote.
“Of course, Lyashko’s complaint is energy imports. Even though three years of coal imports from Russia per the Rotterdam+ formula, which resulted in the growth of tariffs for Ukrainian consumers, fully satisfied him.”
Gerus was referring to a controversial formula that set Ukrainian coal prices by averaging an international coal index used in the coal hub of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The “plus” referred to the added cost of delivering coal from Rotterdam to Ukraine.
Critics of the formula say it forces Ukrainian consumers to pay Rotterdam prices for coal, most of which came from eastern Ukraine and Russia. Meanwhile, Akhmetov’s DTEK profited hugely from the formula, and its securities soared, making a huge profit for the investment bank ICU and the public officials linked to it. ICU has long provided banking services to former President Petro Poroshenko, and many of its former employees received top government jobs in the ex-president’s administration.
This led to an investigation of alleged insider trading and illegal collusion. The investigation is ongoing.
