KIEV, July 24 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s recent decision to delay shipments of Caspian Sea oil via the Odessa-Brody pipeline to Europe was politically motivated and comes against Ukraine’s national interests, President Viktor Yushchenko said Thursday.

Yushchenko has been pushing hard for the past three years to start the Caspian shipments in order to reduce dependence on Russian oil. The first contract for the supply of 8 million metric tons of oil was supposed to be signed July 16 at the presidential office.