KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Odessa-Brody oil pipeline will not return to its intended status if either of his two rivals wins in January elections, the Ukrainian president said.
Ukraine holds the first round of its fifth post-Soviet presidential election Jan. 17. Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko squares off against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the pro-Russia Party of Regions.
The 419-mile pipeline had run in the reverse direction toward Russia following supply concerns. Oil is delivered to the Odessa-Brody pipeline from a junction of the Druzhba pipeline, the longest in the world.
Yushchenko signed a measure in May to ensure the pipeline would run in its intended direction, from east to west. Tymoshenko has balked at the measure and the incumbent claims neither challenger would move forward with his plans, Ukraine's official news agency Ukrinform reports.
"I am sure that the Odessa-Brody will never be launched in the designed mode if Tymoshenko or Yanukovych (wins)," he said.
The pipeline carries around 105 million barrels of oil per year.
