"Concerning the election results, we are keeping up the fight but I don't have much hope for a just decision from the central election commission and the supreme court," he said.
With the announcement, pro-Russia Yanukovich all but admitted that Western-leaning Yushchenko had won their historic rematch on December 26.
If Yanukovich chooses to continue with his appeals over the results of the vote, which he contends was marked with fraud, Yushchenko's official confirmation as the winner could be put off for weeks as the legal wrangling drags on.
On Thursday Yanukovich's team vowed to take its legal appeals to the supreme court after the central election commission turned down his complaint over the results.
Most observers agree that Yanukovich's appeals are unlikely to be granted because Yushchenko's margin of victory is too large and there were no systemic violations that marred the November poll.
According to preliminary results from all polling stations, Yushchenko won the election by more than 2.2 million votes.
The poll was set after an earlier vote on November 21, which election officials said was won by Yanukovich by some one million ballots, was thrown out by the supreme court due to massive fraud.