KIEV, March 4 - Naftogaz Ukrainy produced 352,000 barrels of crude oil in Egypt in Q4 2012, the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry reported.

According to the ministry, Naftogaz from April 18, 2010 to December 31, 2012 had extracted and shipped more than 1.614 million barrels of oil from Egypt, including almost one million barrels in 2012 alone.

BRUSSELS, March 4 - The first well for shale gas extraction as part of the contract with Shell will be drilled when the environmental audit shows that environmental risks are practically equal to zero, Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Oleh Proskuriakov said.

"All environmental problems will be indicated in the draft project, everything will be detailed.

KIEV, March 4 - Russian oil major Lukoil will sell its 99.6% stake in Odessa oil refinery to Ukrainian gasoline trader Eastern European Fuel and Energy Company, or SEPEK, Lukoil announced in a statement on Monday.

KIEV, March 1 – The Ukroboronprom State Concern and Ukrspecexport State Company will display products made by the Ukrainian defense sector at the international defense exhibition Defense & Security 2012 Exhibition, which will take place in Bangkok (Thailand) on March 5-8.

KIEV, March 1 – Zaporizhia's local authorities are intending to make the owners of Zaporizhia aluminum combine (ZAlK), part of Russia's RUSAL, fulfill their investment obligations, otherwise they promise to take more drastic measures against its shareholders.

MOSCOW, March 2 – The Association of Sugar Producers of the Customs Union has addressed the Eurasian Economic Commission asking it to take measures to prevent sugar supplies from Ukraine being made at dumping prices.

MOSCOW, March 3 - Ukraine's Metinvest is thought to be among the potential buyers of Severstal's Lucchini plant in Italy.

Steel Business Briefing quoted sources as saying potential buyers started to perform due diligence at Lucchini on Monday.

KIEV, March 3 – The significant deficit of the Ukrainian Pension Fund's budget has led to an increase in the fund's debt on loans borrowed from the state treasury, to UAH 22 billion as of the beginning of 2010, Accountancy Chamber head Valentyn Symonenko said.

KIEV, March 3 – The growth in production in the Ukrainian industrial sector in 2010 is estimated at 7-10% compared to 2009, Industry Minister Volodymyr Novitsky said at a briefing at the cabinet club on Tuesday.

KIEV, March 3 – Coal stocks at Ukraine's power plants have fallen to a record low level of 768,000 tons, with the required level set at three million tons, Mykola Azarov, the acting chairman of the Regions Party faction, said in Parliament on Wednesday.