Information Telegraph Agency of Russia

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said that the decision to stop the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline is final.

"In my opinion, the decision which has been taken is final. We are now committed to building the pipeline with a different route," he stated, as cited by ITAR-TASS and the BGNES news agency.

The Russian State Telecom Rostelecom is planning to launch a Russian mobile application, more or less analogous to Skype and Viber, reports ITAR-TASS.

According to the public tender announcement, quoted by the wire service, the company has set aside RUB 72.8 M.

The application, available both for iOS and Android devices, must be ready by beginning of October 2015.

Russia will impose a temporary ban on imports of animal fat and meat byproduct from the European Union.

According to a media statement of Russia's veterinary service Rosselkhoznadzor, the ban takes effect on October 21.

The measure is explained with the presence of harmful substances detected in such products, according to ITAR-TASS.

Ukraine's state-owned energy utility Naftogaz does not agree on prepayment of gas it receives by Russia, the country's Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan said.

Prodan added Kiev would insist to transfer instalments based on the delivered volumes.

MOSCOW - A total of 26 Russian companies are interested in taking over Serbian enterprises, Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said after a meeting of the intergovernmental committee on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation between Russia and Serbia in Moscow on Tuesday.

Three EU member states have reportedly shipped 1.7 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas to Ukraine this year via reverse flow - a practice Gazprom doubts is legal.

At least 11 people were killed and 40 others were injured during artillery shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, a local hospital spokesman told RIA Novosti, Wednesday.

Russia and Ukraine are holding EU-brokered gas consultations in Berlin on Friday.

The meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers Alexander Novak and Yuri Prodan and EU's outgoing energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger comes more than three months after Moscow cut off gas supplies to Kiev.

SPLIT - A conference of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) started in Split on Thursday and the chief topic is: "Public money for public value."

Close to 70 directors and main editors from 32 European news agencies are at the conference, including those from the German DPA, France Presse, Itar-Tass, Ansa from Italy, Anatolia, Tanjug and others.

Nationalists protest in Kiev

KIEV -- The nationalist Right Sector party staged a protest on Wednesday in front of the presidency building.

They are opposed to a law on special status of parts of eastern Ukraine.