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Sentence on Timoshenko not to influence talks with Gazprom – minister

Boiko added that lawyers of the ministry study the issue of reimbursement of damages to Naftogaz Ukrainy by Timoshenko in accordance with the court decision

KIEV, October 12 (Itar-Tass) — The sentence on ex-prime minister Yulia Timoshenko will not influence Ukraine’s talks with Gazprom on changes in the gas price, Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuri Boiko said on Wednesday.

“We are engaged in a constructive dialogue with our colleagues in Gazprom in accordance with fundamental agreements reached by the leadership of the country,” the minister said.

Boiko added that lawyers of the ministry study the issue of reimbursement of damages to Naftogaz Ukrainy by Yulia Timoshenko in accordance with the court decision.

According to him, the money the former prime minister is to compensate to Naftogaz will be used to pay for Russian gas deliveries. “We will implement the court decision, and if the money comes to Naftogaz, it will be paid for gas deliveries,” Boiko said.

A court in Kiev on Tuesday found Yulia Timoshenko guilty of exceeding her powers in signing 2009 gas contracts with Russia and sentenced her to seven years in prison and a 1.5-billion-hryvnia (189.5-million-dollar) compensation of damages.

Prosecutors said at the trial that Timoshenko was personally interested in higher prices of Russian gas allegedly for paying debts of the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine Corporation she led in the 1990s. The ex-premier said that her trial was personal revenge by President Viktor Yanukovich.

Timoshenko will stay at the detention centre until her sentence enters into force. Her sentence starts from August 5, 2011. The court ordered the collection of 1.5 billion hryvni from Timoshenko in compensation for Naftogaz damages and evaluated trial expenditures at 2,500 hryvni.