KIEV, March 17 – Ukrainian lawmakers created a commission to investigate the signing of the 10-year natural gas agreement with Russia in January 2009, potentially opening the door for renegotiation of the deal.

The move comes after almost 12 months fruitless talks as Kiev has been seeking to persuade Moscow to change the agreement towards lowering gas prices.

“The commission must investigate why have Ukraine signed the gas agreement on such onerous conditions, and what Parliament must do to solve this problem on terms that are acceptable for our country,” Oleksandr Yevfremov, the head of the Regions Party group in Parliament, said in a statement.