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 The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine has opened a criminal case against former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko for misusing budget funds disbursed under the Kyoto Protocol.

Timoshenko denied the misuse of the funds because they were kept in special accounts of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources and said the present government could use them if need be.

“It would take a minute for a specialist to see that there is not a single payment order for the transfer of the environmental money. They say that the environment money was used to pay pensions. Pensions were paid but not with the environmental money,” she said.

However the Prosecutor General’s Office said the funds received by Ukraine from the sale of quotas under the Kyoto Protocol had been misused. “Timoshenko’s statement that these funds are kept in special deposit accounts is wrong,” it said.