PLATTS - Moscow also hopes to have its 55 Bcm/year Nord Stream 2 pipeline and its 31.5 Bcm/year TurkStream link ready to flow gas to Europe by the end of 2019, leaving only limited volumes for transit via Ukraine.

INTERFAX-UKRAINE - The NBU said that the deficit of the current account in July 2018 accounted for $1.102 billion, which is 8.8 times more than in June 2018 and 2.7 times more than in July 2017.

UNIAN - "If we don't pay, this will mean inflation, uncontrolled price rises for everything, depreciation of the national currency, halt of industrial production, and so on... And that's why we are adopting a strategy to manage the debt so as to protect people from any negative consequences as much as possible. We spend UAH 130 billion annually on debt servicing alone," Groysman said.

REUTERS - Ukraine government should consider looking for alternatives to natural gas supplies from Russia.

UNIAN - Ukraine must raise gas prices to market levels in order to qualify for more aid under a $17.5 billion IMF program. Ukraine, which wants to resume cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), may need to increase household gas prices, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman was quoted as saying on Thursday.

PLATTS - "Today we submitted a petition to the Court of Appeal in Sweden," Vitrenko said as the Ukrainian company looks to find legal grounds to continue its efforts to seize Gazprom assets in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK to enforce the arbitration award.

IMF - “In this regard, I commended the President for his leadership that enabled the approval of the law, and welcomed his intention to make the court operational by the end of this year. We agreed that it is now important for parliament to quickly approve the supplementary law submitted by the President to formally establish the court, as well as the necessary amendments to restore the requirement that the HACC will adjudicate all cases under its jurisdiction, including all appeals of relevant first instance court decisions, as it was in the draft law approved in the first reading.

REUTERS - “What we’ll be looking to see is that it ensures the establishment of an independent and trustworthy anti-corruption court that meets the expectation of the Ukrainian people,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said at a briefing.

REUTERS - Ukraine’s state energy group Naftogaz said it has asked Swiss courts to enforce a ruling that it receive $2.6 billion from Russian giant Gazprom after a long-running legal battle.

REUTERS - The head of Ukraine’s Naftogaz said on Thursday EU-mediated talks over future Russian gas transit via the country to Europe must include Gazprom and must be based on firm commitments.