KIEV, Feb. 27 – The Ukrainian government has made urgent payments totaling 2.4 billion hryvnias, or $480 million, over the past two days to clear outstanding debt for Russian gas supplies, a top government official said Wednesday.

KIEV, Feb. 27 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s plan to bail out millions of people on their failed Soviet-era bank deposits may be facing challenges as some bank branches have been refusing to accept new claims.

KIEV, Feb. 26 ??“ Ukraine made progress in curbing human trafficking over the past several years, but more action is needed to resolve the problem, the International Organization for Migration said.

KIEV, Feb. 27 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko on Tuesday defended the right of Poland and the Czech Republic to host U.S. anti-missile radars and interceptors on their territories for ensuring greater security in the region.

KIEV, Feb. 27 - Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico praised the Ukrainian government's ???constructive??? approach to the completion of the building of the Kryvy Rih Oxidized Ore Mill (KGOKOR).

WARSAW, Feb. 26 - Ukraine's authorities appear complacent about the risk of Russian hydrocarbon deliveries to Western Europe bypassing the country, the Czech Republic's ambassador-at-large for energy security, Vaclav Bartuska, told Interfax Central Europe Monday.

KIEV, Feb. 27 ??“ Ukraine??™s coal market authority decided to increase the average wholesale price of coal by 6% every month starting from this month, Vuhillia Ukrainy reported.

WROCLAW, Feb. 26 - Ukraine supports the European Union's plans for a common energy policy and calls for a more-open approach to pro-western aspirations of nations in the oil-rich Caucasus region, Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Roman Shpek said.

KIEV, Feb. 27 - Energy and Fuel Minister Ivan Plachkov left for Brussels on Monday for meetings with top energy officials at the European Commission to promote investments in the country??™s power sector, the ministry said.

KIEV, Feb. 27 ??“ Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are investigating a massive scheme when hundreds of oil and gas extraction licenses have been apparently illegally issued weeks before President Leonid Kuchma had stepped down.