Ukraine

Several Rounds of Elections and Another Gas Crisis

Yushchenko, accusing Yanukovich of attempting to consolidate power, dissolved Parliament in April 2007. After extended negotiations and political posturing, the rivals agreed to hold parliamentary elections in the fall. The elections in September proved inconclusive, and after weeks of talks, the parties that rose to power during the Orange Revolution of 2004 formed a coalition.

On Oct. 9, 2008, after weeks of political turmoil that saw that collapse of his pro-Western coalition, President Viktor Yushchenko signed an order to dissolve Parliament and called for new elections.

A dispute over debts and pricing of gas supplies between Russia and Ukraine led Gazprom, the major Russian gas supplier, to halt its gas exports to Europe via Ukraine, affecting at least ten EU countries in January 2009. About 80% of Russian gas exports to Europe are pumped through Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the disruption to Europe's energy supply.

Viktor Yushchenko, who led Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004, resoundingly lost the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election. Former prime minister Viktor Yanukovich won the second round in February 2010, defeating Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko by 3.48%. International observers declared the election fair, but Tymoshenko alleged election fraud. She resigned in March, after losing a confidence vote in Parliament. Yanukovich formed a government in March, with Mykola Azarov, a Russian-born former finance minister, as his prime minister.

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