KIEV, Jan. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The signing of a new contract to buy Russian gas has been postponed because of price issues and the parliament's obstruction, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov said on Saturday.

    "Unfortunately, we were unable to get the documents ready... The first question is the price of gas, how prices are established and how long they are to remain in place," Yekhanurov said on Fifth Channel television.

    Yekhanurov said Ukraine would aim to sign the deal with Russian gas giant Gazprom next Wednesday. He said the government also needed to determine whether ministers were in a position to sign the deal after being dismissed by parliament.

    In a bid to end the disputes over the Russian gas price, Ukraine and Russia clinched a new deal on gas supplies on Jan. 4, and the accord will almost double the price of gas.

    The contract was denounced as a betrayal of national interests by President Viktor Yushchenko's rivals and led to parliament's dismissal of the cabinet, plunging Ukraine into constitutional deadlock.

    A further resolution this week demanded another agreement on the gas deal and the parliament passed a resolution dismissing two top ministers linked to the original deal on Thursday.

    Yushchenko says his government will remain in place ahead of the March 26 election.

    Also on Saturday, Yekhanurov and other senior Ukrainian officials held talks with Russian officials headed by Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian atomic energy agency, in a bid to expand cooperation in nuclear energy.

    The talks focused on a new five-year agreement over the supply of atomic fuel to Ukraine, reports said.

    Ukraine currently has four operating nuclear power plants that produce about half of its electricity production, but it depends on Russia for fuel. Enditem