BRUSSELS, Nov. 17 – The European Union has implied that the situation with decriminalization of the article of the Criminal Code under which former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko was convicted will be considered during the preparations for the Ukraine-EU summit scheduled for December 19 in Kiev.

KHARKIV, Nov. 20 – The state should retain control of Kharkiv-based Turboatom, said President Viktor Yushchenko.

"We're not going to give this company to anyone, as the company is our flagship," the president said, speaking at the plant on Wednesday.

He said that Kharkiv-made turbines are operating in dozen of states, adding that the plant's products are in very short supply and demand for them is always present.

KIEV, Nov. 20 – The European Commission has said that political stability in Ukraine will help the country integrate with the European Union more quickly.

"We would like to see more political stability in your country – it would be easier for you to advance to the European Union under such conditions.

KIEV, Nov. 20 – The hryvnia lost more than 5% of its value against the U.S. dollar Thursday as the National Bank of Ukraine had refused to spend its forex reserves to support the local currency.

KIEV, Nov. 20 – Russia’s natural gas giant Gazprom, in a special statement, said Thursday it may hike natural gas prices for Ukraine by 122% to more than $400 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2009.

KIEV, Nov. 19 - Ukraine should increase energy prices for domestic consumers, as bringing them to the market level is the most powerful stimulus for launching energy-saving technologies and the safer use of oil, gas and electricity, according to Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Jacek Kluczkowski.

BRUSSELS, Nov. 20 - Ukraine has a good chance to complete all the necessary World Trade Organization accession procedures by the end of this year and become a member in 2008, which will allow the country to start working on the creation of a free-trade zone with the European Union, EU Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson believes.

KIEV, Nov. 20 - The Ukrainian State Fund for insurance against workplace accidents will pay UAH40 million (about $7.9 million) to injured miners and the families of miners killed in the gas explosion at Zasyadko mine in Donetsk on Nov. 18, according to the Labor and Social Policy Committee.

KIEV, Nov. 20 – Fire continues to rage at the Zasyadko coal mine three days after a powerful methane gas explosion killed at least 89 miners and left 11 missing, a senior official said Tuesday.

KIEV, Nov. 20 – Speculation mounted on Tuesday that President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group may nominate Ivan Pliushch, his top security advisor and a long-time ally, as the speaker of Parliament.