KIEV, Sept. 1 - Ukraine approved a plan to spin off Naftogaz Ukrayiny’s natural gas extracting unit and sell its shares via IPO to raise up to $10 billion, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Thursday.

Ukraine earlier this year considered launching an IPO of Naftogaz Ukrayiny, but the latest plans suggest the government will seek to split Naftogaz into smaller pieces, such as natural gas producer, gas shipper and gas supplier, before selling their shares through separate IPOs.