KIEV, Oct. 24 - Chornomornaftogaz has begun building a propane-butane plant at the Hlibivka gas treatment plant.

Construction will take 15 months and the updated gas treatment plant is scheduled to reach full capacity in 2014, the company said.

At the current rate of gas production, the plant will enable the company to produce 55,000 tons of household gas and an additional 18,000 tons of condensate per year.

"The construction of the new facility will make it possible to fully supply consumers in Crimea with our own propane-butane and supply it to other regions. The new technologies that will be used at the plant will make it possible to more efficiently use extracted resources. The operation of the new plant will help reduce Ukrainian consumers' dependence not only on imported gas, but also on other energy resources," the company quoted Naftogaz Ukrainy chief executive Yevhen Bakulin as saying.