KIEV, April 29 - The establishment of a free-trade area between Ukraine and the European Union will bar Ukraine from joining the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union forever, says Russian presidential advisor Sergei Glazyev.

KIEV, April 29 - Russia seeks to create a bilateral joint venture with Ukraine to operate its massive natural gas transportation system without participation of European entities, the Russian ambassador said Monday.

KIEV, April 29 – The National Electricity Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NERC) is considering the introduction of a two-level tariff on electricity for households with differentiation depending on monthly consumption, according to Ruslan Kaidash, the deputy head of the price policy and electricity department at the commission.

KIEV, April 27 - Consumer confidence in Ukraine improved in March, according to the International Center of Policy Studies (ICPS).

"The consumer confidence index stopped falling in February, and in March it grew by 10.1 notches, to 52.4... Despite the fact the growth is seen against a low consumer confidence index in late winter, it partially confirms the presumption that the pessimism peak caused by the downturn has passed in Ukrainians," the center said.

KIEV, April 28 – Ukraine's new Oplot (Stronghold) tank is currently undergoing trials, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

The tests are taking place in Kharkiv region. The designers and manufacturers of the new armored vehicle are budget-sustained Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau and state-run Malyshev Plant.

KIEV, April 28 - Ukraine cut steel exports 26.2% year-on-year in the first quarter to 5.42 million tons and sales to the domestic market 57.8% to 1.05 million tons, Deputy Industrial Policy Minister Serhiy Hryschenko said at the fourth CIS and East Europe Steel conference in Kiev.

KIEV, April 28 – A group of Ukrainian industrial companies plan to create the Ukrainian Association of Natural Gas Consumers to introduce new mechanisms for operating the Ukrainian gas market, said Vitaliy Demianiuk, head of an initiative group and director general of GAZEKS-Ukraine.

KIEV, April 29 – The national budget this year could receive UAH700-800 million thanks to new rules on the import of mobile phones, according to Serhiy Kolobov, the head of the National Communications Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NCRC).

KIEV, April 29 – Some Ukrainian metals companies could face great difficulties during the current economic crisis due to low prices of metals, shortages of their own raw material base and their large debt burden, according to Serhiy Haida, an analyst from Dragon Capital Investment Company.

KIEV, April 29 – The fall in electricity consumption in Ukraine in the middle of April against the same period in 2008 was 13.7%, while a week earlier the indicator was better, at 12.4%.