KIEV, Aug. 1 - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has taken steps to permanently block supplies of Caspian oil via Ukraine’s Odessa-Brody pipeline to the European Union, a top official at President Viktor Yushchenko’s office said Friday.

Maryna Stavniychuk, a deputy chief of staff at the Yushchenko office, said Tymoshenko loyalists filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court seeking to block Yushchenko’s order starting Caspian oil supplies.

“According to my information, the appeal has been submitted by Tymoshenko lawmakers,” Stavniychuk said at a press conference.