Ukraine's former PM conducted 2009 gas talks on her own-Yushchenko

KIEV, May 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Yulia Timoshenko, Ukraine's Prime Minister
in 2009, conducted gas talks with Russia without prior coordination with
the government, the country's former president, Viktor Yushchenko said on
television Friday.
"The negotiations were to be conducted in accordance with the
directives of the government. This is not a competence of the president,
it is a competence of the collegial body - the Cabinet of Ministers,"
Yushchenko said. He recalled that the government in 2009 refused to
approve the directives because of high gas prices.
"Negotiations were conducted on a personal basis, not on the basis of
government decisions," concluded Yushchenko.
The former Ukrainian president recalled that the Prosecutor-General's
Office in 2009 probed into the legality of gas agreements with Russia, but
could not make an objective decision because of its dependence on the
parliamentary majority and the prime minister.