KIEV, March 11 - President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday plans to examine the books of Naftogaz Ukrayiny to see whether the national oil and gas company can run without a major financial gap in 2009.

Naftogaz is facing a gap of up to 10 billion hryvnias ($1.2 billion) in 2009 due to the steep hike in Russian gas prices and the government’s unwillingness to drastically increase domestic household gas prices.