BERLIN, June 5 - A German doctor who examined Ukraine's jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko said Tuesday that he doubted she could ever recover from serious spinal problems with the care she is receiving, AFP reported.

Karl Max Einhaeupl, head of Berlin's Charite hospital, told reporters in the German capital that Tymoshenko, 51, was under constant surveillance in a hospital room kept in darkness most of the day.

"Her condition has improved," he said.

"But it is ultimately questionable whether she can make a full recovery under these conditions," he added, saying her treatment by German doctors in Ukraine could still take "weeks or months.”