2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Gas treaty

The Agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine, widely referred to as the Kharkiv Pact ( ua, Харківський пакт) or Kharkov Accords (russian: Харьковские соглашения), was a treaty between Ukraine and Russia whereby the Russian lease on naval facilities in Crimea was extended beyond 2017 until 2042, with an additional five-year renewal option in exchange for a multiyear discounted contract to provide Ukraine with Russian natural gas.

The agreement, signed on 21 April 2010 in Kharkiv Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and ratified by the parliaments of the two countries on 27 April 2010, aroused much controversy in Ukraine. The treaty was effectively a continuation of the lease provisions that were part of the 1997 Black Sea Fleet Partition Treaty between the two states. Shortly after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March 2014,Ukraine: Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov named interim president
BBC News (23 February 2014)Ukraine protests timeline
BBC News (23 February 2014) Russia unilaterally terminated the treaty on 31 March 2014.

History

In 1997, Russia and Ukraine signed the Partition Treaty, establishing two independent national fleets and dividing armaments and bases between them. Ukraine also agreed to lease major parts of its new bases in Sevastopol to the Russian Black Sea Fleet until 2017. During the presidency of Victor Yushchenko (January 2005 – February 2010) the Ukrainian government declared that the lease would not be extended and that the fleet would have to leave Sevastopol by 2017.

Amid several Russia–Ukraine gas disputes, including a halt of natural gas supplies to European countries, the price that Ukraine had to pay for Russian natural gas was raised in 2006 and in 2009.

Negotiation

The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov, and the Energy Minister, Yuriy Boyko, visited Moscow in late March 2010 to negotiate lower gas prices; neither clearly explained what Ukraine was prepared to offer in return. Following these talks Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated that Russia was prepared to discuss the revision of the price for natural gas it sells to Ukraine. Mid-April Ukrainian officials stated they are seeking an average price of $240–$260 per 1000 cubic metres for 2010. Ukraine paid an average of $305 in the first quarter of 2010 and $330 in the second quarter.

On 21 April 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych signed an agreement in which Russia agreed to a 30% drop in the price of natural gas sold to Ukraine. Russia agreed to this in exchange for permission to extend Russia's lease of a major naval base in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol for an additional 25 years (to 2042) with an option for a further 5-year renewal (to 2047). The agreement put a cap on the scale of price hikes; but the main unfavourable terms for Ukraine of the 2009 gas contract remained in place.

"We have indeed reached an unprecedented agreement," the Russian president stated. "The rent or the naval basewill be increased by an amount equivalent to that of the as pricediscount."

Ratification and voting

The agreement was subject to approval by both the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments. Both parliaments ratified the agreement on 27 April 2010. Ratification in the Ukrainian parliament proved controversial, and several disturbances occurred during the process. In one incident, several eggs were thrown towards the speaker, Volodymyr Lytvyn, by deputies.

Voting

During a contentious voting session, half of the deputies (legislators) belonging to the ruling Party of Regions (PR) were out of their seats blocking the podium. 160 members of PR, including Rinat Akhmetov, who was not present in the session hall voted in favor of ratification. Among the opposition parties, the ratification was approved by nine members of BYuT and seven from Our Ukraine. All 27 members of the Communist Party of Ukraine and the 20 members of the Lytvyn Bloc voted for the Kharkiv Pact as well. Of those who did not belong to a faction, only Taras Chornovil