Kiev, April 16 - RAPSI. A Russian-Ukrainian gas supply contract was signed with numerous violations of Ukrainian law. The contract could be annulled through legal proceedings, First Deputy Prosecutor-General of Ukraine, Renat Kuzmin said.

According to Kuzmin, the contract could be annulled through the international court as well.

The General-Prosecutor’s Office has instituted criminal proceedings against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Naftogaz head Oleg Dubinin charging them with abuse of authority for signing gas a supply contract with Russia in 2009.

Kiev and Moscow were negotiating gas distribution costs for Ukraine and gas transit to Europe at the end of December 2008. However the parties failed to find common ground. The so-called “gas conflict” burst open in the first days of 2009 when Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine due to a negotiation breakdown and subsequently to Europe when Ukraine started siphoning gas from the pipeline for domestic consumption. The conflict ended when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Timoshenko, signed a new contract on January 19 in Moscow.