KIEV, Feb. 27 – Ukraine’s debt default option is “not on the agenda” as the country will seek to win resumption of its $16.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, President Viktor Yanukovych’s top economic aide said Saturday.

KIEV, Feb. 28 ??“ The currency exchange rate band of UAH 4.95-5.25/$1 for 2007, should not be changed, said Petro Poroshenko, who was recently elected as the chairman of the council at the National Bank of Ukraine.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 ??“ Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the largest opposition group in Parliament, arrived in Washington Wednesday for talks with senior U.S. officials over energy security and the political crisis in Ukraine.

KIEV, Feb. 28 ??“ Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych??™s group in Parliament, the Regions Party, on Wednesday suggested a bill that calls for early presidential and parliamentary elections Sept. 30 as a way out of political crisis.

SIMFEROPOL, Feb. 27 ??“ The building of a bridge over the Kerch Strait between Ukraine and Russia may start this year, Crimean Supreme Council Chairman Anatoliy Hrytsenko said during a press conference in Simferopol on Tuesday.

KIEV, Feb. 28 ??“ Ukraine approved a set of procedures opening way for domestic companies to implement projects under the Kyoto Protocol that may help the country earn billions of U.S. dollars in revenue.

KIEV, Feb. 28 ??“ A close confidant of former President Leonid Kuchma has been apparently preparing to announce Ukrainian individuals that own shares in RosUkrEnergo, a controversial gas trader, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

KIEV, Feb. 28 ??“ Poland and Ukraine on Tuesday signed an agreement seeking to step up cooperation in the energy sector and to improve security of energy supplies in the region, officials said. The agreement, signed after talks between Polish President Lech Kaczynski

KIEV, Feb. 28 ??“ Russian oil major TNK-BP slammed as politically motivated plans by Ukraine and Poland to start moving Caspian Sea crude to markets in Europe and said the project will probably fail.

KIEV, Feb. 28 - President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday continued to reshuffle the Energy and Fuel Ministry, three days after replacing most of the key ministry staff.