KIEV, Oct. 4 - Ukraine has accumulated 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas in its underground gas storage facilities, enough to meet domestic and European demand in the winter, the state-owned gas shipping monopoly UkrTransGaz reported Thursday.

Ukraine plans to accumulate about 21 billion cu m of gas by October 15, when the six-month heating season officially begins in the country and demand increases, unchanged from the previous year.

KIEV, Oct. 4 – Ukraine on Thursday began construction of its first nuclear fuel manufacturing plant in what Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said is the most ambitious energy project since 1991.

KIEV, Oct. 4 – The Energy and Coal Industry Ministry has created three quick response centers which will coordinate the construction of important energy facilities.

KIEV, Oct. 4 – The Ukrainian cabinet has published the conditions for a tender to sell a 45.103% stake in Zakhidenergo, an electricity generating company based in Lviv, and a 25% stake in Kyivenergo, an electricity supply company.

KIEV, Oct. 3 – The European Commission is considering the possibility of expanding the EGNOS/Galileo European global navigation satellite system to cover Ukrainian territory, the State Space Agency of Ukraine announced.

KIEV, Oct. 3 – The leadership of Naftogaz Ukrayiny is to re-sign agreements with regional gas supply and heat supply companies on gas and heat supplies in the 2011-2012 heating season.

KIEV, Oct. 3 – The State Tax Service is not intending to collect the passport data of citizens who exchange foreign currency at banks and currency exchange offices, said State Tax Service head Vitaliy Zakharchenko.

KIEV, Oct. 4 – Lawmakers Oleksandr Feldman and Oleh Heiman (both from the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko) have proposed to oblige communications operators, on the basis of a court ruling, to restrict access to unlicensed providers of financial services.

KIEV, Oct. 4 - Ukrainian mines boosted iron ore production in the first nine months of 2010.

Poltava Mining, the core asset of the London-listed Ferrexpo plc, boosted iron ore pellet production 14% year-on-year to 7.314 million tons, and concentrate production 7.5% to 8.348 million tons, Ferrexpo said.

KIEV, Oct. 4 - Ukraine may start construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Black Sea early next year, the office of First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Kliuyev reported Monday.