KIEV, June 27 - Ukraine seeks to turn itself into a regional energy hub and plans to upgrade its gas transportation system to play a key role in the strategic stability of the European energy market, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

Azarov ordered First Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boyko within the next four months to draft concept of a project to upgrade the system and to expand capacity of the country's underground gas storage facilities, the government's press service said in a statement.