KIEV, March 13 - Ukraine plans this year to start building a huge wind power generating plant in a bid to cut dependence on Russian natural gas imports, the Environment Ministry reported.

The plan, which calls for the construction of the 438-million-euro power plant in the Mykolayiv region, in the south of Ukraine, has been approved by local authorities, the ministry said.

The South Ukrainian Wind Power Plant will have capacity of 300 MW and by four times will exceed the total capacity of all Ukrainian wind power plants currently in operation.