KIEV, Aug. 4 – The Ukrainian railway sector could experience a revenue shortfall of around UAH 3 billion at the end of 2014 if the situation in the eastern part of the country does not stabilize, the head of the analytics and exploitation rationing department of the chief transportation department of the State Railway Administration of Ukraine (Ukrzaliznytsia) Mykola Topchiyev said at a briefing in Kiev last week.

KIEV, Aug. 4 – The suspension of the actual functioning of customs posts and checkpoints in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where active hostilities are being conducted, is costing the government UAH250 million per month, Ukraine State Fiscal Service deputy chief Anatoliy Makarenko said.

KIEV, Aug. 5 – The war tax will be imposed on wages and other payments of the labor payment fund and lottery prizes, Head of the State Fiscal Service Ihor Bilous said.

KIEV, Aug. 5 – The National Bank of Ukraine has accused shareholders in Bank Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate, Kharkiv) of not providing due financial support to the bank.

KIEV, Aug. 7 – Ukraine is ready to continue discussions with Japan on its claims regarding the special safeguard measures imposed in 2013 on imports of passenger cars, although if a compromise is not found, the country plans to continue the application of the special duties until they expire, Ukrainian commissioner for European integration Valeriy Piatnytsky said at a briefing in Kiev on Wednesday.

KIEV, Aug. 7 – Kiev is waiting for an interim decision of the Stockholm Arbitration Institute on gas contracts by the end of this year, which will allow Ukraine to receive Russian gas at the interim price, Justice Minister Palvo Petrenko said.

KIEV, Aug, 7 - Ukraine’s imports of natural gas from Europe decreased by 18.1% year-on-year to 221 million cu m in July from about 270 million cu m in July 2013, UkrTransGaz, the state gas shipper, reported Thursday.

KIEV, Aug. 8 - Ukraine and Kazakhstan are planning to step up military and technical cooperation.

Interfax-Ukraine learned from sources in the defense sector that the sides had confirmed their mutual interest in expanding bilateral defense cooperation during the fourth meeting of the intergovernmental commission on military and technical cooperation, which was recently held in Astana under the leadership of Ukrainian and Kazakh Deputy Defense Ministers Oleksandr Oliynyk and Sergey Gromov.

KIEV, Aug. 8 – The Ukraine Credit-Banking Union (UCBU) has called for the cancellation of a requirement on the obligatory copying of passports of citizens introduced by the National Bank of Ukraine during foreign currency exchange transactions.

KIEV, Aug. 8 – The Energy and Coal Industry Ministry plans to re-launch units 1 and 4 of the crippled Vuhlehirska thermal power plant in December, said Serhiy Mezhenny, the director of the power industry department at the ministry.