KIEV, Aug. 25 – In a major policy shift, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Tuesday rejected future natural gas price hikes, undermining previous commitments that had helped Ukraine to secure massive lending from the International Monetary Fund.

“Our [budget] calculations of payments for gas are made kopeck for kopeck,” Tymoshenko said Tuesday while opening a highway between Kiev and Chop on the border with the European Union. “There will be no hikes of gas prices for the people.”