MOSCOW, Dec. 18 - If Ukraine joins the Customs Union, export duties for energy may be cancelled, while overall Ukraine's profit from such an action may be up to $9 billion, Russian presidential advisor Sergei Glazyev said.

KIEV, Dec. 15 - Forty percent of Ukrainians want the country to enter into the European Union, according to an opinion poll conducted in December by the Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Ukrainian Sociology Service.

DNIPROPETROVSK, Dec. 15 – Ukrainian metals companies cut gas consumption by 5.8% or 24 million cubic meters in November compared to October, to 388 million cubic meters, the Dnipropetrovsk-based Metallurgprom association said.

KIEV, Dec. 16 – Bogdan Corporation in consortium with Belarusian city transport producer Belkommunmash and Russia's Rosukrelprom will start producing trams in Ukraine in 2012 under a project on joint tram production, Bogdan Corporation President Oleh Svynarchuk, said in Kiev on Thursday at a presentation of the tram the consortium will produce.

KIEV, Dec. 16 – Moody's Investors Service has changed the outlook to negative from stable on the B3 long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of 13 Ukrainian banks. The outlook on three Ukrainian banks' outstanding foreign currency debt ratings of B1 has also been changed to negative from stable.

These rating actions have been prompted by the recent change in outlook on Ukraine's sovereign ceilings to negative from stable.

KIEV, Dec. 18 – Donetsk-based Donbas Fuel-Energy Company (DTEK) is considering the possible creation of an international consortium to build a DC link to use the interstate Khmelnytsky-Rzeszow 750 kV power transmission line to export Ukrainian electricity to Poland.

The director for strategy and M&A at DTEK, Vitaliy Butenko, gave information in an interview with the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

KIEV, Dec. 18 – Kiev city state administration has still not transferred funds to pay the debt on the difference between the present tariffs and economically justifiable tariffs for heat supplies to Kyivenergo.

KIEV, Dec. 17 - Ukraine raised iron ore exports by a preliminary 2.6% year-on-year in January-November to 18.759 million tons, a source at Ukrrudprom, the association of Ukrainian mining enterprises, told Interfax.

KIEV, Dec. 17 - The volume of initial public offerings and private placements in shares of Ukrainian companies in 2008 may amount to $2 billion-$3 billion, up from $1.5 billion-$2 billion in 2007, said Dmitry Gavrilenko, investment banking services manager at Concorde Capital.

KIEV, Dec. 17 - Ukraine's gross foreign debt (state and corporate debt) grew by $19.821 billion, or 36.4%, to $74.333 billion in January through September, the National Bank of Ukraine said.