Ex-Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko signed the 2009 gas deal with Russia without consent from her cabinet, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said, according to RIA Novosti.
"Tymoshenko made this decision, which was economically unfavorable for the state, single-handedly, without coordinating it with the government," Pshonka told the Inter TV channel on Sunday.
Last week, Ukraine`s Prosecutor General`s office launched a criminal case against Tymoshenko, now an opposition leader, over abuse of power linked to the signing of the 2009 gas contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom.
Oleh Dubyna, the former head of Ukraine`s state-owned gas company Naftogaz, has also been charged with abuse of office over the contract.
The government of President Viktor Yanukovich, Tymoshenko`s rival, has long urged Russia to review the pricing formula but talks have not been successful so far. In 2010, Naftogaz and Gazprom signed an additional agreement with a discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Tymoshenko said she is being targeted by pro-Russian Yanukovych to divert public attention from the possible ditching of Ukraine`s associate EU entry bid.
Earlier, Yanukovych said Ukraine would pursue ties with the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in a 3+1 format after Gazprom said a union entry would cut the country`s gas bill by $8 billion every year.
