Members of the Svoboda Party faction of Lviv Regional Council blocked the rostrum at the regional council on Thursday.

Svoboda deputy Yosyp Sytnyk stated from the rostrum that the party demanded that a representative of Chevron appear at the regional council and comment on recent claims alleging that Svoboda had demanded a bribe from Chevron for "easy approval of the production sharing agreement (PSA) by the regional council."

Svoboda faction members surrounded the presidium and the rostrum at the session hall and ignored those of their colleagues who asked them to calm down and proceed with the meeting.

Earlier, the Express newspaper in Lviv reported that Svoboda had allegedly demanded $450 million from Chevron for the approval of the draft PSA on shale gas extraction.

In turn, Svoboda made a statement refuting the report and said that it was going to sue the newspaper.