2 criminal cases against Ukraine's ex-premier

Defense of Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko appealed to a Kiev Pechyorskiy court to combine two criminal cases launched against ex-premier. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office launched abuse of office charges against Tymoshenko in mid-April. She has also been charged with illegally diverting funds meant for environmental projects to pay for pensions and purchasing 1,000 "overpriced" minivans. "I appeal to the court to combine these cases, rather, to return the [gas] case to a prosecutor to consider the issue on merging these cases," Tymoshenko's lawyer Sergei Vlasenko said. The current Ukrainian authorities say a deal she signed with Russian energy giant Gazprom while premier contained unfavorable conditions for Ukraine. The current government has long urged Russia to review the existing gas pricing formula but talks have so far been unsuccessful. In 2010, Ukraine's Naftogaz and Gazprom signed an additional gas agreement with a discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic meters. President Viktor Yanukovych has said Ukraine will pursue ties with the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in a 3+1 format after Gazprom said joining the union would cut the country's gas bill by $8 billion every year.