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The President takes hard swipe at Deputy Prime Minister's actions to resume Turkmen gas deliveries to Ukraine

y, cast grave doubt on his country's latest gas deal with Turkmenistan, saying that a protocol signed by the two sides this week amounted to "deception."

The Turkmen Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Ukraine and Turkmenistan had signed a protocol to purchase 50 billion cubic meters (1.75 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas annually from the Central Asian nation for 10 years, starting in 2001. The protocol states that the deal would be finalized in an accord to be signed by the two countries' presidents.

The deal reached in Turkmenistan by Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko would be too costly for Ukraine, with the price much higher than that requested by Russia, Kyiv's main supplier, Kuchma said.

The president, who is vacationing in Crimea, stated that Tymoshenko overstepped her authority in signing an unfavorable contract, insisting that he had forbidden Tymoshenko to sign any documents, adding that "such principal accords must be on the presidential level," the Interfax news agency reported.

While Kuchma vented his ire at Tymoshenko for this latest action, he also voiced his frustration with the government’s performance, stating that he believed an overall cabinet reshuffle was needed in order to tackle key issues, particularly in Ukraine’s trouble energy sector. At the same time, he expressed continuing confidence in his prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko.

"I am not happy with the government's performance, though this does not mean with the prime minister. But changes are necessary and if Yushchenko doesn't understand this, it will be his problem, not mine," Kuchma told reporters in Simferopol.

"I do not see any improvement and it worries me as president very much," Kuchma said, referring to Tymoshenko. "But as (Yushchenko) has taken all responsibility on the issue, let him be responsible."

For his part, Yushchenko emphasized that the protocol had only been initialed.

Ukraine was due to buy 20 billion cubic meters (700 billion cubic feet) this year, paying $42 in a mixture of hard currency and bartered goods and services per 1,000 cubic meters (35,000 cubic feet) of gas, the sides said in a statement.

Unlike previous gas deals, the protocol called on Turkmenistan to transport the gas only to its border with Uzbekistan. It left it up to Ukraine to organize and finance shipment of the gas through Uzbekistan and Russia to its own users, the statement said.

But Kuchma noted that counting transportation fees, the price of 1,000 cubic meters of Turkmen gas might skyrocket to $90 by the time it reaches Ukraine's border, and total $105 for consumers within Ukraine.

"This is a very clear deception," Kuchma said in comments carried by Interfax.

Kuchma's outburst was the latest twist in Ukraine's troubled relations with Turkmenistan, long clouded by gas debts.

Tymoshenko has defended her actions, saying the price of Turkmen gas could be reduced and that the deal was a preliminary agreement.

Ukraine and Turkmenistan signed a $720 million deal in 1998 under which Turkmenistan was to supply some 20 billion cubic meters (700 billion cubic feet) of gas to Ukraine in 1999. The gas began flowing in January 1999, but deliveries were suspended later that year after Ukraine's debt reached more than $100 million.

As part of the latest deal, Turkmenistan has agreed to reschedule Kyiv's debts, according to Tymoshenko.

Turkmen gas supplies are important for Ukraine, which gets most of its gas from neighboring Russia but finds the supplies threatened by its huge unpaid gas bill to Moscow. Kyiv estimates the debt at $1.4 billion but Russia's Gazprom gas monopoly says Ukraine owes about $2 billion.

Russian officials announced recently that they want to replace the existing pipeline that runs to Europe through Ukraine with a line through Belarus and Poland. In addition to Ukraine's unpaid debts, Ukraine is accused of illegally siphoning off gas.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko denied on Thursday that the pipeline decision was tied with Ukraine's debt, saying they were "two separate issues" that "will be resolved separately," Interfax reported.

"We are ready to supply gas to Ukraine given a high level of payment. But at the same time we will lower the risks for Russian gas exports to third countries."