KIEV, July 27 – Ukraine is ready to propose a project on expanding its own gas transportation system as an alternative to the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

KIEV, July 27 – The government will launch the construction of new grain elevators funded by Canadian and Japanese investors by the end of this year.

The new elevators will be transferred to agricultural cooperatives, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said in an interview with the ICTV channel, which was broadcast on Sunday night.

KIEV, July 28 – Investigators recovered fragments of a skull that are believed to come from murdered journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, who was decapitated about nine years ago, a top prosecutor said Tuesday.

KIEV, July 28 - Ukraine and the European Union made progress in talks over a loan that would help Naftogaz Ukrayiny to buy enough Russian natural gas to ensure steady gas transit in the winter, a top official said Tuesday.

KIEV, July 28 – The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday approved disbursement of a $3.3 billion installment to Ukraine, easing concerns that the country may default on foreign debts.

KIEV, July 28 - Rainstorms and floods in western Ukraine killed 22 people, including six children, and forced the evacuation of 20,000 others over the past two days, the Emergency Situations Ministry reported Monday.

KIEV, July 28 - Ukraine’s top security body on Monday urged the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to make sure Caspian Sea oil shipments to Europe via the country start before the end of 2008.

KIEV, July 28 – Lawmakers on Thursday will hold an emergency session to approve measures that increase spending to repair damage caused on Sunday by the worst flooding in a century, parliamentary Speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk said.

KIEV, July 28 ??“ A Russia-bound plane with Poland??™s defense minister on board was forced to change its route and fly over Ukraine after Belarus banned the plane from crossing its airspace, officials said Thursday.

KIEV, July 28 ??“ Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko may be the target of an assassination plot, at least two western security agencies warned their Ukrainian counterparts, a spokeswoman at SBU, Ukraine??™s security service, said Thursday.