* The Ukrainian Veterinary Service officially confirmed that bird flu was responsible for mass fowl death in the Crimea, the country's Black Sea autonomy
* The chief editor and director general of a major independent TV channel in Kyrgyzstan said a possible attempt was being made to seize the building
* Lithuanian government negotiators on the purchase and resale of the Mazeikiu Nafta oil complex denied Kazakh media reports about ongoing talks with a Kazakh company
* Ukraine's ICTV channel reported that the mutation of the bird flu virus discovered in the Crimea was unprecedented and extremely dangerous for humans
* Georgia's National Bank hosted a ceremony to mark the launch of a USAID program to support small and medium businesses in the former Soviet republic
* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed his chief aide, Oleksandr Tretyakov, and appointed him a non-staff adviser
* The European Commission (EC) press service said the EU committee on animal health approved the EC proposal to impose a ban on bird feather imports from Ukraine in the wake of a bird flu outbreak in the country
* Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said that the country's Fuel and Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov would meet with his Russian counterpart in Moscow Monday to discuss pricing and natural gas deliveries to Ukraine
* The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament said that higher natural gas prices would hurt the Ukrainian economy but would not affect ordinary Ukrainians in any way
* Former Moldovan defense minister and economic advisor to the head of Unified Energy System Valery Pasat, who was arrested in Moldova in March, went on a hunger strike to protest delays in his trial
* The Ukrainian presidential secretariat said Ukraine might revise the terms for the Russian Black Sea Fleet's stay in its territory if Russia raised its natural gas prices
* Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Ukraine's statement that it would revise the terms for the Russian Black Sea Fleet if Russia raised its natural gas prices was nothing but a nervous reaction
* The press service of Azerbaijan's President Ilkham Aliyev said he had appointed Natik Aliyev minister of industry and energy.
