Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Ukraine's political leadership: Ex-Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, President Victor Yushchenko Novo-Ogaryovo, January 8 (Interfax) - The current gas dispute with Ukraine has demonstrated the high criminalization of this country's authorities, said Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"I want to stress that however harsh it may sound, it seems to me that the current Ukrainian political leadership is demonstrating its inability to solve economic problems, and today's situation highlights the high criminalization of its authorities," Putin told foreign journalists on Thursday.

"Today's situation is that the current Ukrainian leadership is unable to organize a proper transparent functioning of the Ukrainian economy on market principles. Moreover, their policy is causing a great damage both to the Ukrainian people and Ukraine's prestige," Putin said.

"This proves once again that there is "a political collapse within Ukraine proper" and also shows the high degree of corruption among the authorities," he said.

"What (they) are fighting for today is not the gas price, but a chance to keep their middlemen in order to use the dividends obtained for personal ends and personal enrichment and in order to receive financial resources needed for their future political campaigns," the Russian prime minister said.