KIEV, March 22 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko left for Brussels on Sunday to participate - jointly with President Viktor Yushchenko - at an international investment conference Monday aimed at modernization of Ukraine’s natural gas pipelines.

By flying one day ahead of the conference Tymoshenko apparently rejected an offer from Yushchenko to fly together by the same plane on Monday to save funds as the country goes through severe economic crisis.

But even more importantly, the split indicates the two have essentially failed to reconcile following their surprise meeting - brokered by European leaders - in Brussels two day ago aimed at forming a united response to the challenges.

Tymoshenko is expected to open the conference on Monday, but she also plans a number of bilateral meetings with European leaders, including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Tymoshenko also plans to meet Marek Belka, the director of the International Monetary Fund’s European department, to try to convince the lender to disburse $1.85 billion installment to Ukraine within $16.4 billion rescue loan approved last year.

Tymoshenko leads a team that also includes Hryhoriy Nemyria, deputy prime minister, Yuriy Prodan, the energy and fuel minister, and Ihor Didenko, the first deputy head of Naftogaz Ukrayiny.

The conference, which is expected to be attended by senior officials from 30 countries, including all members of the E.U., U.S., Canada, Japan and Russia, is supposed to raise funds that will be used to upgrade the Ukrainian gas pipelines.

To officials from 45 major European and multinational companies are also expected to attend, according to the Ukrainian government.

The conference comes two months after a sharp dispute between Ukraine and Russia led to disruptions of gas supplies to the European Union.

Ukraine, whose natural gas pipeline system is one of the largest such facilities in the world, plans to integrate the system with the European energy sector to prevent future standoffs with Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s political crisis is increasingly in focus in Europe as many question the government’s ability to approve unpopular measures, such as cutting budget deficit, as budget revenue collapse.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, seen as rivals at the upcoming presidential election 10 months from now, have different view of what must be done to ease the economic crisis and to modernize the country’s political system.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were invited to Brussels on Thursday for the summit of the European People’s Party, a powerful political group uniting 72 member parties from 39 countries, including 12 EU and 6 non-EU heads of government.

Within the summit, Yushchenko, Tymoshenko and Wilfried Martens, the president of the EPP and a former Belgian prime minister, had a joint meeting to discuss the deepening political crisis in Ukraine.

Yushchenko, speaking after the meeting with Tymoshenko and Martens, said the reconciliation was possible on backing the anti-crisis program developed jointly with the IMF.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko agreed to resume their weekly meetings in Kiev, along with the speaker of Parliament and the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, aimed at launching the anti-crisis program. (tl/ez)