KIEV, Sept. 28 – The Ukrainian government has managed to optimize the state budget for 2010 in a short period of time and ensure controls over its deficit, Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko said in Kiev on Tuesday at a conference entitled "Ukraine: Reforms, Competitiveness, Investments," organized by the Ukrainian Foundation for Effective Governance and The Financial Times.

KIEV, Sept. 28 - Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on Tuesday was unsure whether his government can persuade Russia to abandon construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline, which may hurt Ukraine’s economic interests.

Ukraine has been waging a massive diplomatic effort over the past two months to try to stop the South Stream project, but so far without success.

KIEV, Sept. 28 – Ukraine’s opposition parties on Tuesday appealed to world leaders with a warning that the government is preparing to resort to sweeping manipulation at the upcoming local elections.

YALTA, Sept. 28 – The Ukrainian economy is among those that most of all suffered from crisis in the world, according to a global financier and philanthropist, George Soros.

"Ukraine was close to default... In this hard situation the fact that [the country] was successful in avoiding a terrible catastrophe is a large achievement," he said during the teleconference bridge at the sixth YES (Yalta European Strategy) summit.

KIEV, Sept. 28 – The government next week plans to start selling Treasury bills with proceeds to go to finance infrastructure development projects ahead of the Euro-2012 soccer championship, Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Vasiunyk said Monday.

KIEV, Sept. 28 – The State Property Fund, defying a decree from President Viktor Ysuhchenko and a court ruling, said Monday it will go ahead and sell on Tuesday one of Ukraine’s largest chemical companies.

KIEV, Sept. 28 – A Kiev court suspended 16 decrees from President Viktor Yushchenko, postponing his latest key appointments, including the appointment of two governors and 14 chiefs of local administrations throughout Ukraine, a lawmaker said Monday.

KIEV, Sept. 26 – Parliament has adopted a law setting special "green" tariffs for electricity and heat generated by alternative energy sources.

A total of 359 out of 426 MPs registered in the hall supported the law on amendments to the law on energy and the law on alternative energy sources.

KIEV, Sept. 26 – The recent weakening of the hryvnia exchange rate in Ukraine is linked with the worsening of the international financial crisis, according to Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

KIEV, Sept. 26 - A bureau for integration with Euro-Atlantic organizations under the auspices of the Ukrainian government has begun operating.

The bureau, which is headed by former Foreign Ministry spokesman Vadym Triukhan, will be responsible for promoting cooperation between Ukrainian bodies of power in charge of the country's integration into the EU and NATO.