KIEV, May 25 - Ukraine will seek to secure imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. as part of a strategy to diversify energy imports, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Boyko said Friday.

KIEV, May 24 - Ukraine will announce Product Sharing Agreement tenders for the Skifske and Foroske fields of the Black Sea shelf by June 5, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Eduard Stavytsky said during a regional seminar on shale gas exploration and production in Kiev on Thursday.

KIEV, May 25 – The decrease in key domestic economic risks in Ukraine amid positive macroeconomic statistical performance makes it possible to improve the forecast of the country's economic growth in 2010 to 4%, up from the previously forecasted 3%, according to Citigroup's analytical review of Central and East European countries.

KIEV, May 25 – The surplus of Ukraine's current and financial accounts in April 2010 ensured an increase in the surplus of Ukraine's consolidated balance of payments last month by 24.7% compared to March 2010, according to Valeriy Lytvytsky, the head of the group of advisors to the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.

KIEV, May 27 – The Finance Ministry has proposed a large-scale reform of the taxation system, revising the list of state taxes and local duties and foreseeing a cut in VAT and profit tax.

KIEV, May 27 – The State Property Fund said it does not plan to put state stakes in Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) and AeroSvit-Ukrainian Airlines up for sale in the short term.

KIEV, May 27 – EnergoAtom has started consultations with Russia's Rosatom, Canada's Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and South Korea's Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) on the possible use of their designs of reactors for the creation of a project to build them in Ukraine.

KIEV, May 25 – Specialists from the International Atomic Energy Agency have started working at Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant, during which they will check the correspondence of the second reactor's safety levels to international standards.

KIEV, May 25 – The deficit of Ukraine's consolidated balance of payments from January through April is estimated at $6.281 billion, whereas in the same period of 2008 Ukraine saw a $371 million suplus, the National Bank of Ukraine said.

KIEV, May 25 – There are signs of the end of the economic downturn in Ukraine, according to Oleksandr Paskhaver, the president of the Center For Economic Development.

"There is information on all economic sectors: The decline in industry and construction stopped in January. It becomes clear if we compare production in these sectors the period of January-April 2009 with the same period in 2008.