KIEV, March 23. /TASS/. Ukrainian politician Yuri Boyko, a presidential candidate and the founder of the Opposition Platform - For Life party, does not fear any persecution from Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies following his visit to Moscow, Boyko said in a statement circulated by the party’s press service on Saturday.
In Moscow, he and Chairman of his party’s Political Council Viktor Medvedchuk held talks with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.
"We have not violated a single law. We were advocating for the interests of Ukraine and its citizens. I am not scared that we might be reported to be involved in some offences," the press service cited him as saying.
According to the politician, the meeting was needed as it focused on practical, economic issues, which had accumulated over the previous five years.
"When I go round the regions, I can see a hard impact on the Ukrainian industry from the loss of the Russian market. Dozens of plants have been stopped and hundreds of thousands of jobs have been destroyed," he said. "That caused huge problems for the domestic economy. That is why the Russian market should be returned. Moreover, we are currently buying goods from Russia worth $3 billion more than we are selling there."
Boyko recalled that the gas sector was another issue on the table.
"After yesterday’s trip and Gazprom’s head assurances that the price of Russian gas is likely to be dropped by 25%, the ceiling price of gas might be lowered to 3,800 hryvnas ($140) per 1,000 cubic meters for all categories of consumers," Boyko stressed.
The politician added that apart from that, the meeting was held in response to Ukrainians’ requests.
"I am a people’s deputy and when I am visiting regions, people authorize me to solve these issues. And I should react to people’s demands. We initiated the meeting and I believe that we did it right since the Ukrainians’ wellbeing hinges on that. Let those politicians who are criticizing it solve at least one issue and make people’s lives better, since they have been systemically deteriorating them over the previous five years," Boyko said.
Reaction in Ukraine
On Friday, Boyko and Medvedchuk held talks with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev The talks focused on Ukraine’s cooperation with Russia in the gas sector. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, who was attending the meeting, said that Gazprom was ready to start negotiations on direct supplies of gas for Ukrainian consumers.
Later in the day, Ukraine’s Security Service said that it would give a legal assessment to Boyko and Medvedchuk’s trip to Moscow, "to one of the leaders of the aggressor state."
Ukrainian political scientists lashed out at Boyko and Medvedchuk after their visit to Moscow. President Pyotr Poroshenko accused them of an effort to make Ukraine "addicted to Russian gas." Members of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) from the People’s Front party called on law enforcement agencies to investigate the activities of the Opposition Platform - For Life party members, alleging that their steps "have signs of high treason" and that "the traitors must be punished." People’s Front believes that the Ukrainian opposition activists’ contacts with Russian officials "is a public attempt to agree on Ukraine’s capitulation.".