MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) – While still a part of Ukraine, Crimea received less natural gas than the rest of the country, the interim head of the Republic of Crimea said Monday.
“Crimea was one of the last-place regions in terms of gas infrastructure development in villages. Only one in three residential areas was getting gas supplies,” Sergei Aksyonov said.
“And this is despite the fact that gas is produced on the peninsula on a scale sufficient to supply the whole population of the peninsula,” he added.
In February, the Ukrainian parliament backed by far-right movements ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and scheduled an early presidential election for May 25.
Crimea, a predominantly ethnic Russian region, rejected the legitimacy of the new government and moved to rejoin Russia after the authorities in Kiev introduced measures aimed against Russian-speakers in the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the ratification of the treaty providing for the reunification of the Crimean Peninsula with Russia on March 21.
