Legislative initiatives on changing the rates of rent payments in Ukrainian gas production became victims of political manipulation. This is the opinion of Roman Nitsovych, expert of the DiXi Group think tank.
“The decision to lower the rent on gas production has appeared long ago and it was the demand of not only business and politicians, but also the very conditions of the market: there is a need to substitute Russian gas imports and to stop the decline of own production. In this regard, a number of draft laws were registered in the Verkhovna Rada.
Unfortunately, one of the factions of the coalition – namely, Batkivshchyna – decided to achieve adoption of their version of the Tax Code (on gas production rent) at any price. Having connected the rent issue to the issue of tariffs, Tymoshenko gained support of other populist political forces, including the Radical Party.
However, speculations on the tariff policy are not the surprise here. A recipe for success is not the ultimatums, which followed the draft law being set on the agenda, not the emergency meetings to prepare it for voting, nor the aggressive rhetoric.
The opposition-like behavior towards the partner parties in the coalition, including People’s Front, was disastrous for the initiative of Ms. Tymoshenko. After all, the atmosphere of mutual hatred resulted in the infamous Kuzhel-Teteruk incident.
Escalation of the conflict can not simply postpone any action on the issue of gas rent, but in general freeze the progress. For the both sides of this conflict, it will be a comfort environment for continued coexistence, but one of the necessary initiatives will become a victim of political manipulations”.
