KIEV, Sept. 16 – The Income and Tax Ministry has proposed introducing an ecological tax of 1% on the use of natural gas in stationary and mobile sources of environment pollution.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 – Ukraine will learn from the experience of other countries in the construction of surface metro lines, Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov said.

KIEV, Sept. 13 – Ecologists are to bring an action against the Economic Development and Trade Ministry with a demand for a ban on the use of zinc phosphide in Ukraine.

LVIV, Sept. 14 – A joint venture between Ukraine and Germany could invest in the construction of a waste processing plant in Lviv, said Mykhailo Kostiuk, head of Lviv Regional State Administration.

KIEV, Sept. 15 – The grain classification system used in foreign economic contracts differs from Ukrainian national standards, and this constitutes a threat to grain traders, Andriy Astapov, the managing partner from the Astapov Lawyers law firm, told Interfax-Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Sept. 16 - Russia will build the South Stream gas pipeline even if it is offered a stake in Ukraine's gas pipeline system on favorable terms, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told journalists.

"It's not even an issue. We aren't bargaining at all," he said.

South Stream, like the renovation of the Ukrainian gas pipeline system, is about diversifying gas supply routes.

KIEV, Sept. 15 – The investors in the well-known Bukovel ski resort have halted the construction of a similar ski resort on the border of Ivano-Frankivsk and Zakarpattia regions due to the attempt by the law enforcement agencies to declare invalid the purchase of a range of land plots at a reduced cost.

KIEV, Sept. 15 – The pace of industrial production growth in Ukraine rose to 9.2% in August, compared to 6.4% in July and 8.9% in June, the State Statistics Committee reported.

KIEV, Sept. 15 – Ukraine and Brazil are planning to complete the construction of the Tsyklon-4 (Cyclone-4) space complex at Brazil's Alcantara space center and make the first launch in 2012.

KIEV, Sept. 15 - Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ukraine's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings at 'B' and affirmed its Short-term IDR at 'B'. The Outlooks on the Long-term IDRs are Stable. Fitch has simultaneously affirmed Ukraine's Country Ceiling at 'B.’