KIEV, April 5 - RAPSI. The case concerning former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the financial violations allegedly committed during her tenure as the head of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine was illegally closed in 2005 due to pressure exerted by then-President Viktor Yushchenko, Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka told journalists on Thursday.

Yushchenko may be interrogated in the case.

The former prime minister was sentenced in October 2011 to seven years in prison for abuse of power in signing gas contracts between Ukraine's Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom in 2009.

In late March, a second case against Tymoshenko was submitted to the Kharkiv District Court. The case deals with her activity as the head of the corporation. She is suspected of financial machinations. A lawsuit worth about $2.4 million was also filed against Tymoshenko.

The preliminary hearings of the case against Tymoshenko for financial violations during her tenure as the corporation's head in the 1990s will be held on April 19.