The Ukrainian Communists are not against the creation of an interstate holding in the gas industry, but Ukraine's gas transport system (GTS) should remain in public ownership, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko has said.

"We will work to ensure that at the legislative level there were no bans on the creation of this interstate holding. We believe that the GTS should remain in public ownership, and on behalf of the state it's necessary to outline the conditions under which it will be part of other structures and where it will resolve the tasks of the state," he told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

When asked whether the Communists will vote for a bill proposing to permit the privatization of Naftogaz Ukrainy, Symonenko said that he had "not yet fully studied" the document.

He said that the party's economists and lawyers were studying this bill.