Ukraine is examining the possibility of importing LNG from across the Black Sea, rather than on carriers that pass through the Bosphorus in Turkey, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavytsky said.

"We are considering shipments not just via the Bosphorus, but those confined to the Black Sea. We are working on this with our Georgian, Azerbaijani and Turkmen colleagues," Stavytsky told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

On March 1, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Kyiv was studying possible construction of an LNG regasification terminal on the Mediterranean side of the Bosphorus, for subsequent delivery to Ukraine via existing pipelines.

"We are working with our European partners on an alternative option for receiving gas. We see that there is an option, construction of a gas terminal in the Mediterranean Basin, in order not to pass through the Bosphorus," he said.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov had said that Ukraine was continuing talks with Turkey on passage of LNG carriers through the Bosphorus, traffic that the Turkish side is not eager to see.

In that connection, Azarov said, Ukraine is studying options for regasifying the LNG before it passes through the Turkish straits.