KIEV, Jan. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Ukraine and Russia have again postponed signing their much publicized new contract on gas supplies, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov said on Wednesday.

    "It looks today as if the agreements will not be signed. Experts are continuing to work on this," Yekhanurov said as he opened a cabinet meeting.

    "Unfortunately, we are not yet going ahead with the signature. Consultations with (Russian gas company) Gazprom are proceeding," he added.

    In Moscow, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the signing of the accord was put off because of a disagreement with Ukraine's state-owned Naftogaz over the functions of a joint venture company supplying the gas, a key part of the deal.

    Last weekend, Yekhanurov said on Fifth Channel television that the signing of the contract, originally scheduled for Jan. 21, had been postponed until Wednesday due to price issues and obstructions from parliament.

    The prime minister also said the government needed to determine whether ministers were in a position to sign the deal after they were dismissed by parliament for agreeing to the contract, in which Ukraine will pay 95 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, nearly double the previous price.

    Parliamentary rivals of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko say the deal betrays national interests, prompting a bitter row which has plunged the country into a constitutional deadlock.

    But Yushchenko, who has defended the accord, says his government will remain in place ahead of a March 26 parliamentary election. Enditem