KIEV, October 15 (RAPSI) – Ukrainian prosecutors have reopened a case of embezzlement of environmental funds during Yulia Tymoshenko’s run as a Ukrainian PM, Kommersant-Ukraine writes on Tuesday.

The case was reopened upon the request of Tymoshenko’s attorneys, who asked for a series of witness cross-examinations..

In 2011, Tymoshenko was charged with misappropriating the funds obtained by Ukarine from the sale of greenhouse gas emission quotas. In 2012 the investigation was completed and the case materials were sent to Tymoshenko’s defense.

The new phase of the investigation benefits Tymoshenko, Kommersant writes, as it will postpone the start of the hearings and will give the defense more time to prepare.

Tymoshenko is currently serving a seven-year sentence in a penal colony in Kharkov for abuse of power when she signed a gas deal with Russia in 2009. Since May 2012, she has been undergoing treatment in a hospital in Kharkov.

Tymoshenko has also been charged with financial fraud, which is alleged to have taken place when she was head of United Energy Systems of Ukraine in the 1990s.