* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko turned down the Russian president's offer of a $3.6 billion loan to finance its Russian natural gas imports at market prices in 2006
* Ukraine's leading energy company, Naftogaz Ukrainy, will implement all the terms of its contracts for the transit of Russian natural gas to Europe, company CEO Alexei Ivchenko said
* The Ukrainian government plans to double the volume of natural gas in its reserves in three years, Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said
* With 60 hours to go until Russia said it would cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on the terms of gas price and transit
* Former Russian Nuclear Power Minister Yevgeny Adamov will be extradited to Russia, the Swiss Federal Court said
* State-owned oil major Rosneft said in 2006 it would double oil deliveries to China, produce about 75 million metric tons of oil and 13 billion cubic meters of gas condensate, and consolidate 12 subsidiaries in the first half of the year before an IPO in the second
* An explosion occurred in Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus republic of Daghestan, killing one man, police said
* Russian energy giant Gazprom said it would buy 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas at $65 per 1,000 cu m from Turkmenistan in 2006
* Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the 2005 state budget would run a surplus of more than 7-8%
* The Economic Development and Trade Ministry said it was proposing to establish tax holidays lasting up to seven years for new oil deposits in Russia
* The economic development and trade minister said all the government documents on lifting the "ring fence" from around Gazprom shares would be released by January 1
* A Russian Proton-M carrier rocket launched from Russia's Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan Thursday put a U.S. AMC-23 satellite into orbit, the Russian Federal Space Agency said.
