KIEV, Ukraine, March 5 (UPI) -- Ukrainian security forces went to a division of national gas company Naftogaz to examine documents related to gas owned by a subsidiary of Russia's Gazprom.
Officials arrived Thursday at the offices of Ukrtransgaz, the storage and trunk pipeline operating division of Naftogaz, to take "investigative actions" into documents related to the alleged illegal transfer of natural gas from RosUkrEnergo, a division of Gazprom.
Naftogaz spokesman Valery Zemlyansky told the ITAR-TASS news agency that armed forces had accompanied the investigators.
On Wednesday masked officers with the Security Service of Ukraine, loyal to President Viktor Yushchenko, raided the offices of Naftogaz, which is under the authority of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Tymoshenko criticized the raid Wednesday, saying Naftogaz customs officials cleared the ownership of 388.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas at special pricing.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Parliament voted Thursday to launch a formal investigation into the Wednesday raid on Naftogaz, RIA Novosti reports.
Debt and contract disputes in January between Ukraine and Russia prompted Gazprom to disrupt gas supplies for weeks. Naftogaz said in February regional utilities were unable to make their payments, warning of a possible renewed gas crisis amid Gazprom debt concerns.
Ukraine's official news agency Ukrinform reports Thursday that Naftogaz, however, had transferred 80 percent of its debt obligation to Gazprom prior to a Sunday deadline.
