Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has demanded the refutation of reports that the current government cannot pay pensions to retirees because of the alleged debt of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) Corporation to the Russian Defense Ministry, the ex-premier's defense lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, has said.

"Yesterday another lie was told on the main central TV channels that the government of [Prime Minister] Mykola Azarov allegedly cannot pay pensions to citizens, because allegedly there is a judgment on the so-called UESU debt to the Russian Defense Ministry. Tymoshenko is demanding that this lie be immediately refuted," he told reporters at a briefing on Friday.

He also quoted a statement of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in the case on UESU's government guarantees: "The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine did not give any government guarantees on the debt of the UESU Corporation. So it is not responsible for the actions of economic entities. The letters of the Ukrainian prime minister of 1996, to the claimant's representatives are referring, are not government guarantees."

"This is the position of Azarov's Cabinet of Ministers," Vlasenko said.