NOVI SOROCHYNTSI (Poltava region), Aug. 18 - President Viktor Yushchenko considers it a priority for the Ukrainian government to preserve the current Russian-Ukrainian gas agreements.

KIEV, Aug. 21 ??“ The body of a recently kidnapped senior police officer was recovered on Sunday outside Kiev after one of the suspects apparently cooperated with police.

KIEV, Aug. 20 - Ukraine may pull out of the Common Economic Space, a trade bloc that includes Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, after Moscow has demanded a much greater degree of integration out of the group, Economy Minister Serhiy Teriokhin said Friday.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - The Ukrainian government is preparing to reduce the rates of a number of taxes in 2006, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said at Thursday's meeting with Finance Minister Viktor Pinzenyk, STAU Chairman Oleksandr Kyreev, and local tax services heads.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - Regions, districts and towns of Ukraine will set up commissions that will deal with redemption from defaulted monetary savings of the former Soviet Sberbank.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - According to preliminary data, in January-July Ukrainian enterprises cut export of metal products, ferroalloys and metal scrap by 7.3% in comparison with the same period last year from 18.17 million tons to 16.84 million tons, a ministry official told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - This year the government is going to allocate UAH40 million for development and construction of subways in Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk and to compensate preferential transportation in full, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Thursday.

BRUSSELS, July 17 – The European Parliament (EP) has called on the Council of the European Union to extend its sanctions policy against Russia and Belarus and enhance control over the sanctions circumvention.

KYIV, July 17 – The European Commission on Wednesday approved the allocation of the first regular tranche of EUR 4.2 billion of budget support to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility and expects an early final decision from the EU Council, according to a press release from the European Commission.

BRUSSELS, July 17 – The newly elected European Parliament adopted a resolution reaffirming the need for further European Union support for Ukraine both in repelling Russian aggression and in ensuring future EU membership.