FACTBOX-Key facts on Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko

(Reuters) - Parties associated with the 2004 "Orange Revolution" created a majority coalition in Ukraine's parliament on Thursday, the first step towards forming a government.

The coalition is expected to be headed by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, 47, one of the leaders of the revolution that swept President Viktor Yushchenko to power.

Here are some key facts about Tymoshenko:

* Dubbed the "gas princess" for her striking looks, designer clothes and involvement in the gas industry, she was deputy prime minister in charge of energy in 2000 and won praise for her reform efforts.

* Charges of forgery and smuggling gas were brought against her in 2001 in connection with her activities at the head of a private gas trading firm in the mid-1990s and she was fired as deputy prime minister by former President Leonid Kuchma. Tymoshenko dismissed the charges as a political witch-hunt and was cleared after spending a month in detention.

* Her fiery speeches and calls for social justice enthralled vast crowds in the "Orange Revolution" -- weeks of street protests against official results in the 2004 presidential election declaring Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich the winner.

* After Yushchenko won a re-run ordered by the Supreme Court, she was appointed premier of an "orange" government riven by infighting. She alarmed investors with calls for a mass review of privatisations and analysts criticised her populist social spending sprees. She fell out with the president and was sacked in September 2005 after less than eight months in office.

* When Yanukovich became prime minister after a 2006 parliamentary election, she was reconciled with the president and was the prime force behind his decision to dissolve parliament and call an early election.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)