It is necessary to set up a temporary inquiry panel of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to investigate operation of a gas-transport system of Ukraine and supply of customers with gas due to the obvious conditions related to the gas supply not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe. Oleksandr Lavrynovych, First Vice-Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, expressed such an opinion while participating in the television program "Tochka zoru" at the First National Television Channel.
"Situation with gas supply in Ukraine, functioning of chemical industrial enterprises and utility companies is apparent. However, we lack authoritative information concerning actual conditions", - explained the politician. He deems necessary that the parliament should conduct thorough investigation "so that to give a true answer to all the questions appertaining to the Ukrainian gas, its extraction and destination, the origin of gas kept in Ukrainian gas storages, the type of gas which is no longer transported and reasons for that, potential losses from the proposals of our partners-suppliers, and present-day losses, prospects of Ukraine concerning supply with natural gas that secures energy safety".
O.Lavrynovych confirmed the fact that the Party of Regions initiated setting up of the temporary inquiry panel.
However, the First Vice-Chairman expressed his hopes that "the panel will receive all the necessary documents from the Ukrainian entities, as well as similar documents from the Russian Federation and the European Commission, as the problem is no longer in the scope of Ukrainian-Russian relations. The said issue is a matter of European concern, as the energy safety is one of the priority matters for the European Union".
"It is high time we found those who lined their pockets on the burning gas in Ukraine", - stressed O.Lavrynovych.
As it was announced earlier, on 13 January 2009, on the initiative of the Party of Regions, The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a resolution "On setting up a Temporary Inquiry Panel of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to investigate Operation of a Gas-Transport System of Ukraine and Supply of Customers with Gas in 2008-2009". The Panel headed by Inna Bohoslovska will work within two months and present its report at the plenary meeting on 6 February.