KIEV, Dec. 23 – President Viktor Yushchenko forecasts that Ukraine's GDP will grow 1%- 1.8% in 2008.

Inflation in 2008 will amount to 22%-23%, Yushchenko said at a meeting with regional governors and local authorities in Kiev on Tuesday.

KIEV, Dec. 25 – The real GDP fall in 2009 may be 9.9% and inflation could be no less than 19%, according to specialists from Phoenix Capital Investment Company.

"We expect that the downturn peak will be seen in Q1 2009, when the slump in the industry will spread on the service sector.

KIEV, Dec. 24 - Ukraine has reached a consensus with Russia regarding the payment for natural gas imported from Russia and pumped into Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities, President Viktor Yuschenko said.

KIEV, Dec. 25 ??“ Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the most popular politician in Ukraine, slightly improved his rating over the past month, followed by opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and President Viktor Yushchenko, opinion polls showed Monday.

KIEV, Dec. 24 - President Viktor Yushchenko is expected to soon meet his Turkmeni counterpart Separmurat Niyazov and both parties may sign a 25-year natural gas supply agreement, Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said Saturday.

KIEV, Dec. 25 - Ukraine apparently agreed to a substantial hike in price of natural gas that will be supplied from Turkmenistan next year, Energy and Fuel Minister Ivan Plachkov suggested Sunday.

KIEV, Dec. 25 - Ukraine and Russia rapidly drifted towards a showdown in the International Arbitration Court in Stockholm amid failure to reach a mutually acceptable compromise over natural gas prices in 2006, officials said.

MOSCOW, Dec. 23 - Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) on Friday carried out training of a crisis center set up to ensure stable supplies of gas to European consumers through Ukrainian territory, Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said at a press conference in the Interfax central office on Friday.

KIEV, Dec. 23 - Ukraine is pressing for between $1 bln and $1.5 bln to be set as the yearly level for direct state subsidies to its agro-industrial complex at the current round of World Trade Organization accession talk, Economics Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said in Kiev, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

KYIV, Nov 25 – Ukraine is fulfilling its promise to strengthen its presence in African countries: it is expanding its diplomatic representation, still intends to hold the Ukraine-Africa summit and is ready to cooperate in many areas - from food supplies to technology exchange and security assistance, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.