The leader of the Party of Regions faction in parliament, Oleksandr Yefremov, has said that it is not in the competence of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to pardon former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, because the criminal cases opened against her are connected with a large amount of debt to the state.

"As part of our current legislation, the president cannot use this mechanism, because there are certain issues related to the state budget," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

He said that under a court ruling, a company earlier led by Tymoshenko, is to pay "405 million [dollars]" and about "60 million [dollars] in taxes to the state budget."

Yefremov said that this is direct damage to the state that it will incur in connection with the repayment of the debt to Russia.

"The president cannot make a strong-willed positive decision and thereby tell people that he forgave the debt," he said.

He also confirmed that lawyers are currently working on the issue of ensuring Tymoshenko's treatment abroad.

"The president says he is ready to consider any option," Yefremov said.