Pechersky District Court in Kyiv resumed the hearings of the Russian gas supply contract case against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Tuesday, after a two-week break in its session.
An Interfax-Ukraine reporter said that the court had proceeded to the final stage of the trial – court debates. Representatives from the prosecution, the defense and the defendant will participate in the debates, exchange remarks, and then the court, under Ukrainian law, will give the floor to the defendant and retire to the deliberation room to pass a sentence.
The Prosecutor General’s Office accuses Tymoshenko of exceeding her authority in signing gas contracts with Russia in 2009, which caused over UAH 1.5 billion in losses to the state.
The court started hearing the gas case on June 24. On August 5, Tymoshenko was arrested in the courtroom for "obstructing the establishment of the truth," prosecutors said.
