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Timoshenko agrees to undergo medical treatment at Kharkov hospital

Timoshenko insists that German medics evaluate the Kharkov hospital proposed for her treatment

KIEV, April 12 (Itar-Tass) —— Former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko has preliminary agreed to undergo medical treatment at Kharkov’s Central Clinical Hospital of Ukrainian Railways.

“According to our preliminary information, to be more precise, information provided by the administration of the Kachanivska Penal Colony, Yulia Timoshenko has preliminarily agreed to be taken to the clinic on Tuesday [April 17],” the spokesperson for the Prosecutor General’s Office, Margarita Velkova, said on Wednesday, April 11.

She said the Prosecutor General’s Office is waiting for the arrival of German physicians on April 13 who are supposed to study the conditions in the clinic.

Timoshenko insists that German medics evaluate the Kharkov hospital proposed for her treatment.

Her lawyer and MP Sergei Vlasenko said earlier that Timoshenko needs to undergo medical treatment in a specialised clinic. However the Ukrainian railway hospital offered to her does not specialise in the treatment of spinal column conditions.

“We have asked German physicians to come over here and find out whether this clinic can provide the treatment they prescribed. If so, Yulia Vladimirovna will be ready to start it. But she insists on treatment by independent physicians,” Vlasenko said.

Timoshenko has been demanding for a month that she be examined by a physician she can trust – Ukrainian spinal column specialist Nikolai Polishchuk. “But we are told that this is not advisable,” the lawyer said.

Timoshenko was offered a course of treatment at the central clinical hospital in Kharkov. “This is the best health facility we have. Yulia Vladimirovna agreed and we can begin at any time,” First Deputy Health Minister Raisa Moiseyenko said earlier.

She said that Timoshenko has taken time for consultations. “I hope that the decision will be made after the consultations,” Moiseyenko said.

She confirmed that that the proposed hospital has a department specialising in spinal column problems, equipment and specialists.

Timoshenko fell ill on August 18, 2011, two weeks after her arrest. Her lawyers say that she “has been in bed for about four months”.

Medics believe that Timoshenko has discal hernia. She has been complaining about pains in the back. Her lawyers claim that her condition was worsening despite medical treatment.

Timoshenko mistrusts Ukrainian medics and rejected their help. She insists that she be examined by independent medics.

On October 11, 2011, Timoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for having acted in excess of her powers which had resulted in damage to national interests.