KHARKIV, Feb. 21 - Shell is prepared to clarify its plans to Ukrainian citizens concerned about the impact of shale gas production, Graham Tiley, the head of Shell in Ukraine, said in Kharkiv.

KIEV, Feb. 21 - Naftogaz Ukrayiny said Thursday it was recently ordered to pay $12.7 million to the Italian gas trader IUGAS for failing to honor a natural gas supply agreement signed in 2003.

KIEV, Feb. 21 – Consensus has been reached between private operators of the Ukrainian market and representatives of the state to hold the line on fuel price increases despite the increase in the global prices of oil and fuel, said Kostiantyn Borodin, deputy director of the oil and gas industry and alternative energy department at the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry.

KIEV, Feb. 20 - An audit by the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine has uncovered the inefficient use of national budget funds for nuclear and radiation safety activities in 2009-2011, the press service of the Accounting Chamber has said.

KIEV, Feb. 20 - Odessa port-side chemical plant plans to purchase 186 million cubic meters of natural gas at $430 per 1,000 cubic meters (excluding VAT and customs duties) from Cyprus-based Ostchem Holding Limited, according to the Derzhavni Zakupivli (State Procurement) online portal.

KIEV, Feb. 20 – Foreign countries are showing interest in the products of the Ukrainian defense industry, Defense Minister Dmytro Salamatin said.

"Potential arms importers currently show interest in Ukrainian defense products. However, Ukraine is unlikely to maintain its position on the world market of arms and military equipment without creating conditions for manufacturing competitive domestic products, and increasing funding into research and development work," the newly-appointed defense minister said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, Feb. 21 - Some 9.41 million square meters of housing was commissioned in Ukraine in 2011, 0.8% up on 2010, according to the State Statistics Service.

Last year, 24.1% or 2.267 million square meters of housing was put in operation according to the temporary procedure for commissioning completed private estates and cottages constructed without permits for construction work.

KIEV, Feb. 21 – Ukraine's net international reserves (excluding borrowed funds) by early July 2011 are expected to hit at least $18.611 billion, which is 14.1% or $2.3 billion up on the target for early January 2010, reads a memorandum by the Ukrainian authorities to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dated December 10, 2010 and posted on the IMF's Web site.

MOSCOW, Feb. 21 - Ukraine will pay an average of $280 per thousand cubic meters of gas in 2011, a Gazprom representative told reporters.

The price of gas for Ukraine is $264 this quarter and it will rise to $275 in Q2 2011, said Anatoly Podmyshalsky, head of the Russian gas giant's department for CIS countries.

NEW YORK, Feb. 21 - Oleg Bakhmatyuk, the majority owner of Avangard, Ukraine’s largest producer and exporter of chicken eggs, will spend $24.9 million to acquire a poultry processing business in the United States.