The Ukrainian parliament rejected on Wednesday all four amendments to the country's Criminal Code, meaning ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko will serve time if she is found guilty of abuse of office charges.

Tymoshenko, now Ukraine's leading opposition figure, faces seven years in prison if found guilty of exceeding her authority by signing a contract on Russian gas supplies to Ukraine without approval from her government in January 2009.

Parliamentary deputies refused to include in the agenda for discussion the amendments to the Criminal Code, which were introduced by the opposition. The bills proposed decriminalizing Article 365 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates jail time for abuse of office.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has faced strong Western criticism over the trial, which Tymoshenko and her supporters have described as "political motivated."

Tymoshenko has also said she expects to be found guilty.