KIEV, March 4 – Tensions between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko rose sharply Wednesday when security forces stormed the offices of Naftogaz Ukrayiny seeking to stop an alleged $2.7 billion natural gas fraud.

The forces, led by Alfa unit, broke into the offices as part of an ongoing investigation into Naftogaz’s seizure of 6.3 billion cubic meters of gas owned by RosUkrEnergo, a gas trader 50-50 owned by Gazprom and by two Ukrainian shareholders.

This gas is part of 11 billion cubic meter shipment that entered Ukraine last year as the gas owned by RosUkrEnergo and supposed to be exported to Poland and other markets in Europe.

But on Jan. 19 Gazprom – without the consent of the Ukrainian shareholders – agreed to sell RosUkrEnergo’s gas to Naftogaz at a below-market price as part of a deal between Tymoshenko and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The deal ended the standoff between Naftogaz and Gazprom that had led to disruptions of gas supplies within the European Union for almost three weeks.

Ukraine’s security service, SBU, which is controlled by Yushchenko, investigates the case and believes there may be high-level corruption involved in letting Naftogaz seize gas owned by RosUkrEnergo.

“A serious group of government officials, including the leadership of the government, committed the illegal transaction,” Valeriy Khoroshkovskiy, a deputy head of the SBU, on Wednesday told lawmakers in Parliament.

SBU late Tuesday detained Taras Shepitko, a deputy head of the Energy Regional Customs Service in Kiev, who has apparently authorized the allegedly illegal transfer of RosUkrEnergo’s gas to Naftogaz.

“We are detaining customs officers on a regular basis. This is not a surprise because the corruption in this structure is very deep,” Khoroshkovskiy said.

The developement is important as the success of Naftogaz-Gazprom’s gas agreement hinges on the fate of the RosUkrEnergo’s gas.

Unless Naftogaz gets access to this gas, Ukraine may have a shortage of gas this year and may be unable to ensure steady transit of Russian gas to the EU, analysts said.

Naftogaz moves 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to markets in the EU annually, and needs to burn at least 6.3 billion cubic meters of gas to run turbines that move the gas along the pipelines.

Tymoshenko, on a visit to France on Wednesday, said the attack on Naftogaz was approved by Yushchenko and pledged a tough response while protecting state property.

“I think there very few naïve politicians and journalists in Ukraine that believe the security service could act without the president’s order,” Tymoshenko said.

“I, as the prime minister, will hit very painfully the hands of those who encroach on the state property,” Tymoshenko said. (tl/ez)