NEW: Ukraine's state-owned energy company Naftogaz has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a deal in which a US company co-owned by a former donor to Rick Perry got the rights to develop a huge complex of oil and gas fields while he was Energy Secretary

In a draft of the complaint obtained by TIME, Naftogaz alleges that the Ukrainian govt acted illegally and with bias when it granted the oil and gas fields to the company owned by one of Rick Perry’s longtime allies and financial backers, @shustry reports https://t.co/UyCyXOapM5

— Vera Bergengruen (@VeraMBergen) December 17, 2019

This lawsuit raises questions about a different kind of US political influence in Ukraine, and casts a spotlight on Rick Perry’s role in Ukraine’s oil and gas industry as Energy Secretary.

Bleyzer insists his company won the rights "fairly and without any political influence" pic.twitter.com/1plMdCiSs1

— Vera Bergengruen (@VeraMBergen) December 17, 2019