Kiev  - Ukraine's minister of transport quit his portfolio on Wednesday to protest poor government financing of preparations for football's Euro 2012, Channel 5 television reported.

Yosyf Vinsky, the former Soviet republic's top transport official since January 2007, said he had no choice but resignation because his boss, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, "was blocking the allocation of funds required to build infrastructure facilities linked to Ukraine's hosting the 2012 European Championships.

Ukraine and Poland were named the host nations for the high-profile sports tournament in April 2007.

FIFA officials during a visit to Kiev last month said Ukraine had fallen behind in preparations, and singled out the country's Soviet-era road, air, and rail network as among the biggest problems.

Vinsky in late 2008 estimated the cost of repairs needed to bring Ukraine's transportation infrastructure to FIFA standards at around 5 billion dollars - a sum well beyond Ukraine's chronically divided government now hard hit by the international financial crisis.

Tymoshenko during a Monday ICTV television interview accused Vinsky of using some 2.1 million dollars of Ministry of Transport funds to finance a mail advertising campaign supporting his candidacy in Ukraine's 2010 Presidential elections.

A populist politician also running for Ukraine's presidency on an anti-corruption ticket, Tymoshenko said "she would not tolerate abuse of position by any official," and called for a criminal investigation into Vinsky's work at the Transport Ministry.

Work for Euro 2012 is going forward and will be completed on time, she said.

Vinsky during a Wednesday press conference denied the allegations, saying he was forced to leave his position "because the prime minister (Tymoshenko) simply cannot tolerate a person next to her who doesn't agree with her."

The row and Vinsky's departure will leave Ukraine's Transport Ministry without a head for at least a week, and possibly into July, the Interfax news agency reported.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, one of Tymoshenko's rivals in the presidential race, said "(T)here is absolutely no question that this (Vinsky's departure from the Ministry of Transport without an immediate replacement) will cause more damage to our (Ukraine's) preparation efforts for Euro 2012."

FIFA officials last month warned Ukraine on its preparation effort, certifying only one of four Ukrainian cities as on track to hold games, and warning that if the other three did not improve their pace of preparations by December, the matches might be held in Poland.(dpa)