You're reading: Former Ukrainian prime minister Tymoshenko personally ordered Naftogaz head to sign gas contracts

Ukrainian First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin has said that former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko allegedly personally ordered former Naftogaz Ukrainy Head Oleh Dubyna to sign gas contracts, he said on the Inter television channel early on Saturday.

"The former premier personally made a decision that could have been made only collectively: she signed the documents and ordered former Naftogaz head Dubyna to sign the contracts. Experts have assessed damage caused by the actions," he said.

Kuzmin said that "if the premier did not have the right to sign the documents and she signed them abusing her power, damage was caused by the actions, so these are signs of committing a crime."

"An investigator absolutely legally opened a criminal case," he said.

Kuzmin said that at the moment, Naftogaz head Dubyna said that he would not sign the contracts on the conditions proposed by Russia and without a permit of the Ukrainian government.

"[Former] first vice premier [Oleksandr] Turchynov then gathered a cabinet meeting to make the decisions, and no minister supported the decision. Moreover, the cabinet opposed the decision and the issue was taken off the table. The case includes the minutes [of that meeting, former] cabinet members were questioned and they conformed everything I’ve just said," Kuzmin said.

He said that then a directive signed by Tymoshenko and obliging Dubyna to sign the contract appeared. Dubyna got an instruction from Tymoshenko that was confirmed by the directive.

Asked what Dubyna could have done in the situation, Kuzmin said that that investigators are clarifying what he could have done, and that is why Dubyna was brought to justice.