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Ukraine may ease punishment for Tymoshenko crime

© RIA NovostiYulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko - Sputnik International
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The Ukrainian governing party's parliamentary faction is ready to consider easing punishments for offences similar to those allegedly committed by ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the Party of Regions deputy head said on Friday.

The Ukrainian governing party's parliamentary faction is ready to consider easing punishments for offences similar to those allegedly committed by ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the Party of Regions deputy head said on Friday.

Tymoshenko is charged with abuse of office in connection with the signing of a gas deal with Russia in 2009.

Earlier this week, President Viktor Yanukovych, who has faced Western criticism over the Tymoshenko trial, introduced a bill to the parliament which would ban imprisonment as punishment for economic crimes, replacing it with a fine.

Among other proposals, the bill provides for the decriminalization of Article 365 of the country's Criminal Code stipulating punishment for abuse of power by officials.

"The main condition for the scrapping of criminal punishment stipulated in this article should be the payment of damages caused to the state - particularly, to [state gas monopoly] Naftogaz - as well as the payment of all taxes to the state budget," the Ukrinform news agency quoted Party of Regions Deputy Head Dmitriy Shentsev as saying.

Prosecutors on Tuesday called for a seven-year jail sentence for Tymoshenko, who is accused of exceeding her authority by signing the contract on Russian gas supplies to Ukraine without an approval from her government in January 2009. She should also pay $195 million in damages allegedly caused to Naftogaz by the deal.

Tymoshenko, who became a leading opposition figure after losing last year's presidential elections to Yanukovych, has repeatedly denied all the charges against her, saying they are politically motivated.

During a court session on Thursday, Tymoshenko said she did not expect to be acquitted and would not ask for a pardon if found guilty.

Moscow and Kiev launched talks on reviewing the price Ukraine pays for Russian gas after a row over the issue came to a head earlier this month. Ukraine has said the deal was unfair and that Kiev was overpaying up to $6 billion a year for the gas.

Kiev is seeking to review the pricing formula that Russia has tied to the international spot price for oil, which has been rising recently over instability in the Middle East.

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