Kiev- Ukraine's government on Friday claimed a controversial Ukrainian tank shipment hijacked by Somali pirates was destined for the Kenyan army, not wartorn South Sudan - making the fate of the freighter, its cargo, and its hapless 20-man crew even murkier than before.

Kiev  - Ukraine's already-unstable banking sector appeared even more shaky on Thursday with dozens of banks applying formally for government assistance.

A total of 25 loan institutions have filed requests for low- interest credits or other state financing, said Anatoly Shapovalov, a spokesman for the National Bank of Ukraine
(NBU), according to an Interfax news agency report.

The NBU announcement came one day after the Ukrainian government unveiled an unprecedented one-billion-dollar bail-out of Prominevestbank, the country's sixth-largest lender.

Kiev- The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on Wednesday moved to bail out one of the country's banks, extending a low cost credit and banning claims by creditors.

Persons or businesses owed money by Prominvestbank, Ukraine's sixth largest bank, will not be able to press any claims against the company for the next six months, an NBU statement read in part.

Kiev - Ukraine's government on Wednesday ordered the country's leading PFTS stock exchange to stay closed throughout the day, the Interfax news agency reported.

The decision came after the market hit a record low on Tuesday, and was widely predicted to continue a plunge of as much as 12 per cent a day, observers said.

The PFTS lost 11 per cent overall value on Tuesday, with banks plummeting between 22 to 26 per cent, and metals producers slumping 13 to 16 per cent, the Dragon Capitol trading house reported.

Ukraine's government has been locked in a constitutional crisis for more than two months and has struggled to take steps to control economic damage from recent drops in foreign shares exchanges.

Kiev- Ukraine's leading PFTS stock exchange plummeted on Tuesday, with some shares losing 9 per cent in minutes after opening and the government considering another halt to trading of some firms.

Stock in the massive Azovstal steel company dropped 9.15 per cent in value shortly after trading began, and "practically all" of Ukraine's other major metals manufacturers were early big losers, the Interfax news agency reported.

Kiev - Six Ukrainians died in a Saturday coal-mine blast, the Interfax news agency reported.

The explosion resulting from a methane gas build-up took place in the Duvana shaft near the city of Sukhodolsk, in the eastern Luhansk province.

An evacuation of the surviving 113 miners from 550 metres below ground was completed without incident.

An investigation into possible violations of safety procedures was in progress, Vice Prime Minister Oleksander Turchinov said.

The government would provide financial assistance to the victims' families, he said.