Ukraine will launch the production of shale gas, seen as an alternative to Russian natural gas, by 2017, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Eduard Stavitsky said on Wednesday.

Ukraine's prime minister said the country is trying to shake off Russia's influence by increasing natural-gas production, but also bristled at criticism from the EU.

Ukrainian Prime Minster Mykola Azarov announced on Tuesday that Ukraine will ramp up its natural gas production by up to 25 percent over the next three years, a move that could help the country break free of its energy dependence on neighboring Russia.

Ukraine will increase its natural gas production by as much as 25% in the next three years in order to wean itself off costly Russian supplies and wriggle free of Moscow's influence, the country's prime minister said.

Ukraine will almost certainly continue to be highly dependent on Russian gas, and it will remain dependent for the foreseeable future. A more energy independent Ukraine would be more politically independent from Moscow, and would have greater room to liberalize, but it is hard to see how this is going to happen because Ukraine is not going to achieve anything like energy independence. The agreements with Chevron and Royal Dutch are positive evolutionary steps in the country's on-again off-again transition from communism, but they are not panaceas to a dependence on Russian energy that is baked very deeply into the country's economic institutions and infrastructure. If we want to deal with the world as it is we need to focus on mitigating the adverse consequences of Ukrainian energy dependence, not pretend that it is something that can be rapidly overcome.

Two energy behemoths Royal Dutch Shell plc and Chevron Corporation have been awarded exploration rights for two shale gas fields - Yuzivske and Oleske - in Ukraine.

German energy company RWE signed a natural gas contract with a Ukrainian energy company though one analyst said the deal wouldn't be a game changer.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA RDSA.LN RDSB RDSB.LN) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) gained the right to develop Ukrainian shale gas fields Yuzivske and Oleske, Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov said in his interview with Euronews.

Two of the world's largest oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell plc and Chevron Corp, obtained the right to develop Ukrainian shale gas fields Yuzivske and Oleske,