Ukraine business & economy news

21/07/2010
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych expects the government to take all necessary measures to prevent the purchase price of grain from the new harvest from dropping, and approves of the cabinet's plan to use the Agrarian Fund to achieve this, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said. "The president has drawn our attention to the necessity of taking additional measures to prevent the price of grain from falling, so that farmers can sell grain from the new harvest at a fair market price," the premier said, opening a meeting of the government in Kyiv.

9/07/2010
Ukraine seeks to raise $6.5 billion over the next nine years to finance modernization of its natural gas transportation system, the Energy and Fuel Ministry reported. The money will go to replace gas pipelines, to upgrade compressor plants and other equipment, and to improve underground gas storage facilities, the ministry said.

29/06/2010
Ukraine hopes to agree a long-awaited bailout package with the International Monetary Fund, worth up to $19 billion, within one week, Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Tigipko said. "I think we can expect a new programme within a week, after talks with the mission end," Tigipko said. The Fund last year suspended Ukraine's $16.4 billion rescue programme because the former administration of Viktor Yushchenko, who was at odds with his government, reneged on promises of financial restraint.

21/06/2010
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by IMF Deputy Director for Europe Paul Thompson is today arriving in Ukraine to discuss economic measures that will steadily reduce the amount of Ukraine's debt to the IMF, as well as structural reforms in financial and energy sectors. Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tihipko earlier said the main topic of negotiations will be the planning of the state budget deficit in Ukraine. "With the budget deficit, which we showed, at least 9.2% in 2009, we have to come this year to 6% of the budget deficit, and next year 4.3% - maximum. This is the main topic of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF),"he emphasized. The government is negotiating with the IMF about a new program of cooperation, envisaging a loan of up to USD 19 billion for 2.5 years.

17/06/2010
Ukraine will have to find ways to settle its dispute over natural gas with gas trader RosUkrEnergo, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said. “We are thinking how to exit this situation,” Azarov said in an interview with BBC Ukrainian service aired late Tuesday. Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz Ukrayiny was last week ordered by a court of arbitration in Stockholm to return 12.1 billion cubic meters of gas to RosUkrEenrgo.

9/06/2010
Consumer prices in Ukraine, after falling by 0.3% in April for the first time since August 2008, declined by another 0.6% in May, the State Statistics Committee reported. According to the committee, in general, inflation in Ukraine has totaled 3.7% since the start of the year, compared to 4.4% in the first four months of 2010 and 4.7% in the first three months of 2010.

1/06/2010
Steel-maker OJSC Zaporizhstal has been sold to a group of Russian investors represented by Vnesheconombank. According to the Internet publication Ukrainska Pravda, the price tag on the deal was $1.7 billion, with the sellers rejecting an earlier $50 million down payment by the major Ukrainian financial and industrial holding SKM Rinat Akhmetov and agreeing to pay a fine of $50 million for having done so.

5/05/2010
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said the improvement in relations between Russia and Ukraine will give a boost to the country's economy. "Today we can surely say that a positive breakthrough in Ukrainian-Russian relations has taken place," Azarov told a Cabinet session. The Ukrainian premier said the gas discount (worth some $40 billion) has allowed the approval of the 2010 budget and the increase of salaries and pensions in Ukraine, and also avoided a rise in gas prices for Ukrainian consumers.

29/04/2010
The Ukrainian government has proposed to increase the excise duty on beer by 23.3%, the minimum excise duty on filtered cigarettes by 30.4%, the excise duty on wine by 10 times and increase duty on liquor and vodka, though by less than 10 times.

17/04/2010
Ukraine has asked Russia to cut the gas price to $250 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2010, an oil and gas industry source close to the negotiations reported. "The offer is $250, but no more than $260," he said.

9/04/2010
Naftogaz Ukrayiny could challenge an intermediate decision by the tribunal of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce on a claim by Swiss-based RosUkrEnergo gas trader against JSC Naftogaz Ukrayiny for payment by the Ukrainian company of $197 million to the plaintiff in the Svea Court of Appeal, according to lawyers.

25/03/2010
Ukraine will have to cut its 2010 budget deficit to 6% of GDP among other conditions to win resumption of lending from the International Monetary Fund, a senior Ukrainian official said. Iryna Akimova, President Viktor Yanukovych’s chief economic advisor, said other conditions include recapitalizing the banking sector and curbing inflation to maintain macroeconomic stability.

17/03/2010
The new head of Ukrainian utility Naftogaz must take on the task of rehabilitating the embattled company, the Ukrainian energy minister said. Energy Minister Yuri Boiko appointed Yevgeny Bakulin as the new chief at Naftogaz. The minister called on Bakulin to overhaul the company's finances, saying it was necessary to preserve oil and transits through the country.

28/02/2010
Ukraine’s economy contracted 15 percent last year, the most since 1994, led by construction and manufacturing, the State Statistics Committee said, citing preliminary data. Construction plummeted 48.3 percent in 2009 as the global credit squeeze hampered builders and Ukraine’s recession sapped demand, the committee said on its Web site today. Manufacturing declined 26 percent, followed by retail sales, which fell 17.9 percent. The committee will release official economic data on March 31.

9/01/2010
The Ukrainian steel producer Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works (Alchevsk), the subsidiary of the Ukrainian steel producer Industrial Union of Donbass (ISD), has issued its preliminary results for 2009. Accordingly, in 2009 Alchevsk decreased its crude steel output by 16.4 percent to about 3.64 million mt, its finished steel production by 15.7 percent to 3.32 million mt and its pig iron production by 14.3 percent to 3.235 million mt, all compared to 2008. Meanwhile, in 2009 Alchevsk's agglomerate output registered an increase of three percent year on year to 4.525 million mt.

21/12/2009
The National Bank of Ukraine has noted a considerable inflow of foreign currency into Ukraine in the first half of December. "According to recent data, the trend seen in the previous two months when Ukrainian residents' currency receipts exceeded their own payments to foreign partners is continuing in December. Moreover, the surplus registered in the first 12 working days in December was twice higher than in the same period in November," the NBU said in a statement on its official Web site.

13/12/2009
Ukraine has made an urgent appeal to the International Monetary Fund for about $2bn in emergency loans to ease "an extremely difficult situation" in meeting its external financial obligations and to avoid the danger of a "spill-over effect" on other economically vulnerable states, write Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev. "The next three months are crucial," Hryhoriy Nemyria, Ukraine's deputy prime minister, told the Financial Times a day after returning from a mission to IMF headquarters in Washington. "Wait and see is not an option. The cost of inaction is greater than the cost of action and may aggravate the situation in the wider region."

29/11/2009
Ukraine's state gas firm Naftogaz Ukrayiny will face a shortage of $4 billion for the purchase of Russian gas in 2010, President Vikor Yushchenko’s top energy envoy said. "Even if the transit rate [in 2010] grows and the system for collecting payments for gas on the domestic market is improved, Naftogaz will still face a shortage of around $4 billion," Bohdan Sokolovsky said in Kiev.

9/11/2009
Ukraine used Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, potential claims on the freely usable currencies of International Monetary Fund members, to pay for Russian natural gas imports in October. Ukraine had $2.04 billion worth of SDRs, which sometimes is referred to as “paper gold,” in reserves of the central bank before the transaction, according to the office of President Viktor Yushchenko.

5/10/2009
Ukraine needs effective tax reform, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said during the IX Lviv International Economic Forum. This will help bring additional investment into the country, she believes. “I believe that it will be very difficult to attract investors to the country unless we implement tax reform. We need to lower the profit tax and VAT. Ukraine needs to think about one-way implementation of the VAT whereby the charge is borne by the end consumer,” she said.

13/09/2009
The negative balance of Ukraine's foreign trade was estimated at $3.132 billion in January to July 2009, which is 3.5 times less than during the same period last year, the State Statistics Committee reported.
The export of goods in the period over review was estimated at $20.541 billion, while the import of goods was estimated at $23.673 billion.

9/09/2009
Ukrtransnafta, the operator of Ukraine's oil transport system, has switched the Prydniprovski oil pipeline to reverse mode and transported the first shipments of oil from Odessa oil terminal to Kremenchuk oil refinery (Ukrtatnafta). The reverse (two-way) operation of Prydniprovski oil pipeline will make it possible to simultaneously meet all the commitments to current clients transiting [oil] from Russia and Kazakhstan. At the same time, Ukrtransnafta will set aside certain days, due to a more compact schedule of pumping their oil to Odessa port, on which it will ship oil from Odessa to Kremenchuk.

25/08/2009
The highest financial supervision bodies of Kazakhstan and Ukraine recommend to raise the role of the interstate agreement on cooperation in emergency response. According to Kazakh Accounts Committee and Ukrainian Accounts Chamber equipment and other recourses of fire emergency, airmobile and rescue services is not effective that negatively influences on emergency response. Kazakh Accounts Committee and Ukrainian Accounts Chamber will continue joint holding of the parallel audit which is of great interest for both countries.

17/08/2009
Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko has called on the National Bank to stabilize the national currency - hryvna. "A negative trade balance reduced almost fifteen-fold in January-June," she told a news conference on Monday. The prime minister noted that over the six months of 2008 the negative trade balance comprised 7 billion U.S. dollars and over the same period of this year only 471 million U.S. dollars. "There are no causes for national currency fluctuations," she said adding, devaluation of the hryvna is not explained by economic reasons.

1/08/2009
The EU and international lending institutions have agreed a deal with Ukraine to help it provide stable supplies of Russian gas to Europe. Loans worth $1.7bn (£1bn) were agreed in return for reforms to Ukraine's gas sector, the European Commission said.
The deal is meant to include money to help Ukrainian national gas company Naftogaz pay off large debts to Russia.

25/07/2009
Ukraine's national commission supervising the power generating sector on Friday issued a resolution saying that retail prices of natural gas will go up 20% as of September 1. Ukraine promised the International Monetary Fund it would raise fees for the population by 20% in 2009 and they would be adjusted on a quarterly basis in 2010. Consumers on private households are expected to pay an equivalent of 78 U.S. dollars per thousand cubic meters of gas.

17/07/2009
The World Bank has downgraded its economic forecast for Ukraine again, predicting that the country's economy will contract by 15% this year. Analysts argue Ukraine is too dependent on a limited number of heavy industries - such as metal production - making it more vulnerable when foreign demand slows. On Friday, the EU will hold negotiations with Kiev, Moscow and international lenders to try to prevent a repeat crisis.

9/07/2009
The recapitalization of three Ukrainian banks – Bank Kyiv, Rodovid Bank and Ukrgasbank - will be completed by the end of the week, allowing people to access 2 billion hryvnias in deposits, a central bank official said.
“We've virtually completed work at three of the banks, and by the end of the week, the state is to enter Bank Kyiv, Rodovid Bank and Ukrgasbank and become their almost 100% owner," Anatoliy Shapovalov, an acting Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, said.

1/07/2009
The Ukrainian government will pay Russia for the gas it consumes in time, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said. "I understand the hysterical moods of all politicians ahead of the presidential elections. But all that concerns the provision of the country with natural gas and making payments for natural gas will be ensured by the Ukrainian government clearly, successfully and in time," she said in parliament on Wednesday.

25/06/2009
Yulia Tymoshenko said that Ukraine would make full payment on time for gas imported from Russia in June. "We are putting gas into storage in Ukraine according to plan. We did so in April and May and made 100 percent payment," Tymoshenko told a news conference broadcast on television. "In June, we have again put into storage 1.1 billion cubic metres. And we will again pay for it without fail."

17/06/2009
Ukrainian industrial production slumped in May for the 10th month in a row, the fifth straight month in which output has fallen more than 30 percent, as a global recession weighed on manufacturers. Ukraine, which had average economic growth of 7 percent between 2001 and 2007, faces its first recession in 13 years as the global financial crisis curbs demand for its products. The eastern European nation was forced to turn to financial organizations including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for help.

1/06/2009
Belenergo has signed a contract with Ukrinterenergo on imports of 100 million kWh of Ukrainian electricity every month to Belarus starting June 1, a representative of the Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Ministry said. "A contract on supply of 100 million kWh of Ukrainian electricity to Belarus was signed on May 14. It would expire at the end of the year, and there is a possibility to prolong it," the representative of the ministry said.

29/05/2009
The World Bank signed a pact with Ukraine to buy 10 million metric tons of Kyoto carbon emissions rights, the parties said on Wednesday, in a deal worth up to $140 million, according to Reuters calculations.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, signatory nations that are comfortably below their greenhouse gas emissions targets can sell excess emissions rights called Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) to nations which are struggling to meet their targets.

1/05/2009
Metinvest, part of the sprawling empire of Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, said on Thursday it has acquired miner United Coal, following Russian metal and mining companies that have already bought into the U.S. market. Metinvest ranks United Coal as the sixth largest coking coal company in the United States with confirmed reserves of 160 million tonnes of coal concentrate. Metinvest, the largest steel company in Ukraine which is also involved in mining, named no price for the deal.

29/04/2009
Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko, visiting Hungary, has assured that Ukraine will ensure the complete and uninterrupted supply of Russian gas to Hungary and the rest of the European market. Addressing a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Laszlo Solyom in Budapest on Tuesday, Yushchenko said developments on the natural gas market underline the relevance of creating a unified energy system in Europe. Yushchenko will wind up his two-day state visit after meeting with Hungarian parliamentary Speaker Katalin Szili and Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai on Wednesday. Ukraine is one of Hungary's main trade partners.

21/04/2009
The National Electricity Regulatory Commission is to approve a so-called "green" tariff, a special increased tariff for electricity generated using alternative energy sources, to stimulate their development. President Viktor Yushchenko signed the law on amendments to the law on electricity in part of stimulation of the use of alternative energy sources. According to the law, the green tariffs are not applied only to energy sources generated using blast furnace and coke gas, and using hydropower – only on small hydro power plants.

13/04/2009
In another sign of Ukraine’s worsening economy, auto imports fell to less than a third of their level one year ago in Q1. State Customs Service chief Anatoliy Makarenko reported Friday that 23,500 cars were imported into Ukraine in January to March, down from 79,000 the prior year. Makarenko said that the fall in imports is linked with the global economic crisis and changes in Ukrainian law in part of taxation of imported goods (13% duty on some imported goods).

9/04/2009
Representatives of the International Monetary Fund arrived in Ukraine Wednesday to revive talks over a much-needed $16.4 billion emergency loan, which had been stalled because of policy disagreements. The IMF withheld a second $1.9 billion installment of the loan in February after the government refused to cut spending ahead of presidential elections later this year. "The Ukrainian side is interested in finding a way out of this difficult situation and continue cooperation," said the IMF delegation.

1/04/2009
President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko holds the traditional meeting of leaders of Ukraine in telephone regime. The theme of the consultations are issues connected with implementation of gas arrangements reached during the international investment conference in Brussels, fulfillment by Ukraine the demands, which are necessary for receiving the second tranche of loan of the International Monetary Fund and situation at the bank sector. IPresident underlines that the signing of Brussels declaration will allow Ukraine to reform energy sphere and approximate to agreement on joint energy space.

12/03/2009
Measures adopted by the government on the budget, central bank and the financing of state energy firm Naftogaz should set the stage for the return of an IMF mission, Ukraine's president said on Wednesday. "I hope that the Ukrainian side has taken all the necessary steps for the mission to renew its work next week," Viktor Yushchenko told a news conference after a meeting with government and central bank officials.
The IMF suspended its $16.4 billion loan programme last month after several of its conditions went unfulfilled.

21/02/2009
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has announced that its military budget for 2009 is insufficient and if not increased will lead to the actual destruction of its armed forces. The Ukrainian military is suffering from a two-fold drop in the number of combat-ready units, a sharp decline in the operability of high-tech weapons, no of ordnance replacements and, finally, the professional demoralisation of its servicemen compounded by mass dismissals.

17/02/2009
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Ukraine signed an agreement on Monday for a 135 million euro ($174 million) grant as part of the international Chernobyl cleanup effort. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said the grant would help speed up the construction of a new protective shelter over the nuclear reactor and clean the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the scene of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

5/02/2009
The Main labour and employment department of the Kyiv city state administration registered the growth of unemployment in the Ukrainian capital due to the financial-economic crisis in 2008, head of the department Tetiana Kyseliova said at the meeting of the coordination council of the city state administration. "The number of unemployed rose twice, compared to early 2008," she said.

30/01/2009
The state commission for financial service market regulation has asked the National Bank of Ukraine to consider reports of the non-return of expired deposits of insurance companies by Nadra Bank and Finance&Credit Bank, and inform the commission on measures taken.
"There are cases when banks refuse to fulfill their commitments on deposit agreement when the expiration term arrives. According to information received by the commission from insurers, OJSC Nadra Bank and OJSC Finance&Credit Bank did not return funds to insurers," reads the report.

18/01/2009
The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) carried out 17,544 flights in 2008, 6.5 percent up against 2007. Over the year, 1,680 million passengers have been conveyed, 16.5 percent more than in the previous year. As the company's press service informed, total passenger turnover increased by 16.2 percent in 2008, and made up 3.2 billion passenger/kilometers against 2.7 billion passenger/kilometers in 2007. The volume of mail and cargos amounted to 5.4 thousand tons (4.3 thousand tons in 2007), the ratio of passenger seat occupancy made up 74.8 percent, three points up against the same index of the previous year.

14/01/2009
Ukraine's President Victor Yushchenko stresses that price for Russian gas for Ukraine, according to the calculations based on the European prices and under the memorandum on the gradual increasing of gas price for Ukraine, should not exceed $210 per 1,000 cubic meters.
"We take $55 off the European price taking into account the current transit tariffs. This way we have the European price in Eastern Ukraine. If you apply the method to any gas price in Europe, you will not get a price higher $205-210 - considering the memorandum," Yushchenko said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday

29/12/2008
A delegation of Ukrainian parliamentarians led by parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn has arrived in Moscow to discuss the ex-Soviet republic's gas debt to Russia. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday Ukraine must pay its natural gas debt to Russia in full or otherwise Kiev could face disruptions in supplies.
"We are not pursuing a goal of cutting off supplies," Medvedev said. "But if Ukraine fails to pay, we will use a whole arsenal of measures, there must be no illusions on this score, but we will fulfill our obligations to consumers in other countries, including Europe."

13/12/2008
The head of the International Monetary Fund's mission to Ukraine said the government was on track to earn the next part of its $16.4 billion bailout loan. But she warned it still faces tough decisions in next year's budget and admonished the country's warring politicians not to scapegoat its central bank.
The currency, the hryvnia, has lost 60% of its value since May, but has settled recently. The collapse has been controversial: The party of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko tabled a motion for Friday calling the central bank to account for its recent actions, and possibly to dismiss chairman Volodymyr Stelmakh.

9/12/2008
One of the two biggest airlines in Ukraine said on Tuesday it will hold a share buyback programme, in May to December 2009, for 6 percent of shares held by an Irish minority shareholder.
Ukraine International, a private company whose other shareholders include Austrian Airlines, said it would buy back 32,500 shares at a nominal value of $100 per share.

1/12/2008
Ukraine raised coal production approximately 3.5 percent year-on-year in January-November to 71.456 million tonnes. Coal production in Ukraine fell 6% in 2007 compared with 2006 to 75.437 million tonnes, including 28.396 million tonnes of coking coal, down 5.8 percent, and 47.041 million tonnes of steam coal, down 6.1 percent.

21/11/2008
The state should retain control of Kharkiv-based Turboatom, said President Viktor Yushchenko. "We're not going to give this company to anyone, as the company is our flagship," the president said, speaking at the plant. He said that Kharkiv-made turbines are operating in dozen of states, adding that the plant's products are in very short supply and demand for them is always present. "I'm sure that there is no threat of economic crisis at the company," he said.

9/11/2008
Ukraine and Kazakhstan seek to jointly increase exports of Kazakh crude oil to Europe by building an oil terminal facility and an oil refinery near Odessa, the Ukrainian Energy and Fuel Ministry reported.
Naftogaz Ukrayiny, the national oil and gas company, and Kazmunaigaz, the Kazakh state oil and gas giant, on Thursday created a joint team to discuss these issues, the ministry said.
The companies had a meeting in Astana aimed at boosting cooperation in the energy sector in line with earlier agreements between President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.

5/11/2008
Ukraine’s only aluminum smelter, ZALK, owned by Russian aluminum giant Rusal, started to shut down some of its aluminum-making facilities due to rising debts for power consumption, a top company official said.
Oleksandr Kotiuk, ZALK director general, said ZALK will probably reduce aluminum output by 25% on the month in November, but warned further reduction is possible within the next three months unless the government takes urgent measures to help the smelter.

29/10/2008
Ukraine will receive over $20 billion in foreign loans by the end of 2008 to stabilize its economy amid the global financial crisis, the country's National Bank said Monday.
"There is a firm conviction that by the end of the year, Ukraine will receive financing that will considerably exceed $20 billion", Petro Poroshenko, chairman of the National Bank Council, saying.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Monday the fund would provide a $16.5 billion emergency loan to Ukraine. An agreement has yet to be signed. Poroshenko also said the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development could make contributions. Ukraine's stocks, banks and currency have been badly hit by the global credit crunch.

25/10/2008
The Trade Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Trade organized a business seminar “Promotion of export production of the Kazakh enterprises to the Ukrainian market” in Kiev yesterday. Chairman of the Committee Aidar Kazybayev, the representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy and Kazakh Honorary Consul to West Ukraine Galina Maslyuk attend it.
The Ukrainian entrepreneurs got acquainted with a presentation of the Kazakh companies – “Tobol” SEC, “KazNex”, “KazAgro”, Trade-Industrial Chamber and others.
According to First Secretary of the Kazakh Embassy in Ukraine Islambek Arystanbekov, the event was held in the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy. The trade-economic mission aimed at support of the exporters and expansion of export of non-primary goods to the Ukrainian market, establishment of partnership relations between enterprises of the two countries, studying of international experience on using of measures on tariff and non-tariff regulations.
Following up the results of the seminar constructive business negotiations were held and a number of contracts and memorandums of further cooperation were signed.

29/05/2008
RNCOS new research report, “Ukraine Banking Sector Analysis (2007-2008)”, says that the bank loan segment of the Ukraine banking industry is consistently growing. It grew at a CAGR of 56.02% during 2001-2006 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.84% by 2011. The report also says that the growth during the forecasted period drive both short-term and long-term lending.
In addition, “Ukraine Banking Sector Analysis (2007-2008)” also covers and comprehensively discusses other important factors, including growth potential, employment growth, disposable income per head, net interest income, current account deposits and time & saving deposits.

21/05/2008
Ukraine's central bank will act this week to narrow the gap between the official exchange rate of the hryvnia and interbank market levels after the currency surged against the dollar in trade, a top official said.
Petro Poroshenko, head of the bank's policy-making council, did not say to what extent the currency's official rate of 5.05 to the dollar would be altered. He suggested that current levels of 4.6 on the interbank market were distorted and "speculative".
"The official rate is set on the basis of figures on the interbank market. We have no intention, of course, of maintaining for any length of time the gap between the interbank and official rates," Poroshenko told reporters.
"I think that by the end of this week we will see a narrowing of the figures for the official and interbank rates."
The central bank has kept the official rate at 5.05, within a broader target band of 4.95-5.25, since August 2005.

9/05/2008
The government of Ukraine wants to sign 15-year gas supply contracts with Russia’s Gazprom and would work to ensure a five-year transition period from the current gas price to the European level.
Naftogaz Ukrainy CEO Oleg Dubina told reporters on Wednesday the government instructed his company to conclude 15-year contracts with Gazprom.
“We would like to have the European price for natural gas in five years, and during the transition period we want to agree on a fixed indexation of the existing price of 179.5 dollars per thousand cubic meters,” he said.

17/04/2008
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Wednesday her country is ready to shoulder the blame if Europe's supplies of Russian natural gas falls short.
Ukraine pipes about 80 percent of the natural gas Russia sends to Europe. While Kiev threatened to interrupt the shipments this year during a dispute over Ukraine's debt and supply arrangements, European consumers didn't report any shortages, unlike in 2006 when a row over prices led Moscow to cut off deliveries.
However, in her speech to the assembly, Tymoshenko said if shortages arise her country "is prepared to take on that responsibility, with all that it implies".
Russia and Ukraine settled their latest gas dispute last month, though some issues remain.

11/04/2008
The Ukrainian parliament ratified on Thursday a protocol on the country’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The decision was voted in by 411 deputies.
Ukraine was to ratify the protocol by July 4, 2008. However, this period can be extended, if need be, on a decision of the WTO general council. Ukraine will be a full-fledged WTO member on the 30th day after the ratification.
Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko said at a news conference on Wednesday that Ukraine would participate in agreeing protocols while Russia enters the WTO. Earlier, Timoshenko claimed that Ukraine’s membership of the WTO would not be an instrument of pressure on other countries, including Russia.

17/03/2008
A UKRAINIAN steel group has taken a significant step towards what is likely to be one of the biggest floats in London this year.
Interpipe, which is owned by Viktor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian businessman, is among the world’s top 10 producers of seamless steel pipes, and the world’s third-largest maker of train wheels. The company is investing £300m in an electric arc furnace to allow it to expand production.
Gennady Gazin, the chairman of the board of directors, said: “Interpipe is committed to maintaining and enhancing its corporate governance and our intention is to operate in line with the best-practice standards adopted by leading international companies.”

11/03/2008
ArcelorMittal (MT) might be forced to spend more than it had planned on the development of its Ukraine assets, said executive vice president Narendra Chaudhary Monday.
Speaking at the Adam Smith conference, Chaudhary said that due to difficult global financial conditions, the company will spend more than $3 billion to achieve its aim of producing 12 million metric tons a year by 2012.
He said the company is satisfied with its Kryvyi Rih steel mill, but cited lack of infrastructure, human resources and cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, notably when it comes to buying land and its future usage, as the main challenges to the company in Ukraine.
He said he doesn't see Ukraine joining the World Trade Organization as a risk to greater competition in steel production but urged the country's government to abandon indicative export prices, which make Ukraine's production less competitive.

7/03/2008
Ukraine has promulgated new guidelines of President Viktor Yushchenko for the gas negotiations with Gazprom. If necessary, Ukraine will create two ventures of Gazprom and Naftogaz – the first firm will be importing the gas to Ukraine and the second will be selling it there.
At the same time, Gazprom will have to transfer from Rosukrenergo (RUE) to Naftogaz (or to the importing venture) the contract for the Middle Asia’s gas, including its purchase, supplies and the sale of the excess gas in Europe.
Gazprom will have 50 percent in the first venture with Naftogaz. The 50/50 importer will supply to Naftogaz at least 50 billion cu meters in 2008 at $179.5 per a thousand cu meters and at least 55 billion cu meters in the following years at contracted prices.
Gazprom will own from 25 percent to 50 percent in the venture dealing with the gas sales in Ukraine. Kiev predictably presses for giving no more than 25 percent to the gas monopoly of Russia. The sales won’t exceed the sales of Ukrgazenergo, reaching 30 billion cu meters at the maximum.

3/03/2008
Ukraine accused Russia's state-controlled gas giant Gazprom of failing to pay for the transit of gas to Europe through Ukrainian territory, a claim Gazprom denied.
"Since December Russia's Gazprom has not paid (Ukraine's state energy firm) Naftogaz a kopeck for the transit of Russian gas," Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Turchinov told local television.
A Gazprom spokesman said the firm had no debts for transit through Ukraine.

1/02/2008
1 February 2008 - Ukrainian PET packaging and caps specialist Uniplast Closed Joint Stock Company (JSC) is to buy a plastics closure moulding plant in Bryansk, Russia.
JSC will buy the facility from Moscow-based PET resin and preform producer Retal Industries. The acquisition is being made by the Ukrainian group's Russian subsidiary JSC Pet-Rus which launched a preforms and LDPE closures plant two years ago in Noginsk near Moscow.
Retal's Bryansk facility, acquired by Retal in 2004, has a closure capacity of 1.8 billion units per year and annual sales of €14m in 2006. That same year, Retal consolidated all its closure manufacture in Bryansk when the company moved moulding equipment from other sites. Today, it sells its production in Belorussia and Ukraine as well as in Russia.
Retal is disposing of the plastic closures business because it aims to focus on its three core areas of production: PET preforms, PET resin and PET film. The deal was due to be concluded by the start of 2008.

14/11/2007
he government of Ukraine has adopted a resolution to allocate 138 million hryvnias (nearly 27 million dollars) of humanitarian aid to Kirghizia.
On November 13, President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko signed a decree on allocating a humanitarian aid to Kirghizia due to the earthquake in this country. The President ordered the Cabinet of Ministers to provide giving the aid to Kirghizia. 16/11/2007

6/11/2007
Ukraine's inflation rate reached a 25- month high in October, almost doubled the government's inflation target for this year.
Inflation accelerated to an annual 14.8 percent in October from 14.4 percent the month before, the state statistics office reported today on its Web site. Prices rose 2.9 percent in the month. The result exceeded the median forecast of 13 percent.
The government had aimed to slow inflation to 7.5 percent this year to raise living standards in the former Soviet republic, where 7.9 percent of the 47 million people live in poverty, according to the World Bank.

7/10/2007
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych will visit Russia on Tuesday for talks on gas debts.
Yanukovych will meet his Russian counterpart Viktor Zubkov with the aim 'of developing bilateral economic cooperation,' Sergiy Levochkin, a Ukrainian government official.
Earlier this week, Yanukovych said he was ready to fly to Moscow to resolve a dispute over a debt of 1.3 bln usd (920 mln euros) claimed by Russian gas giant Gazprom for exports to Ukraine.
The European Union depends on Russian gas transiting through Ukraine for around a quarter of its imports and there have been fears that a row with Russia similar to one in 2006 could affect supplies to Europe. 9/10/2007

3/10/2007
Russia threatened yesterday to cut gas supplies to Ukraine again in a move that appears to reflect its displeasure at the prospect of a new orange government in Kiev.
Gazprom, the state-controlled monopoly, said it would reduce supplies to Ukraine next month unless it settled a bill of more than Ј6.6bn.
The threat raised the spectre of a renewed dispute between Russia and Ukraine that could affect supplies to western Europe. Russia cut off gas to Ukraine in early 2006. 5/10/2007

9/09/2007
President Victor Yushchenko has said in an interview with the Financial Times Ukraine will not give Russia a stake in its gas transportation system, insisting that it must be used rationally and in the nation’s interests.
“I am not saying no politician will start this speculation but I guarantee that nobody will be able to continue this polemics,” he said. “Even if there are people in the government who dream of this, this policy has no legal consequences and prospects.”
Yushchenko said Ukraine’s relationship with the Russian Federation would always be based on the “concept of national independence.” 11/09/2007

4/07/2007
China is ready to cooperate with Ukraine in the construction of a new highway running from Luhansk to Donetsk, under a project for the construction of the Lviv-Luhansk highway on concession terms.
The proposal for the construction of the Lviv-Luhansk highway was supported by Chinese experts who are ready to participate in building the Luhansk-Donetsk section, Volodymyr Demishkan, the deputy transport and communications minister and head of State Road Service Ukravtodor. 6/07/2007

23/06/2007
Turkey's Garanti Bank, part-owned by a unit of General Electric, has started talks with several corporations in Ukraine as part of its regional expansion plans. Garanti, Turkey's third biggest listed bank by market capitalisation, had said before it was looking to grow in the region and in April said its board had authorised head office to assess opportunities for regional expansion.

9/06/2007
Ukraine - Russia: Train from Thessaloniki to Kiev and Moscow.
Hellenic Railways Organization, Greece's state-run railway operator, has started direct services to Kiev and Moscow to attract tourists, the Athens-based company said in a statement Thursday. The weekly summer services, which will start from the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki and offer sleeper cabins, started Thursday and will operate until Sept. 2, the company said. 11/06/2007

1/06/2007
The Skorzonera company (Ivano-Frankivsk region) intends to construct a cableway connecting resort town Yaremche and Bukovel tourist complex by 2010. The cableway will stretch for 15 km.
Skorzonera was founded by the Maveks Ltd. (Lutsk) and the Halych Tsukor Ltd.

20/04/2007
Black Sea ring road to be built. 12 countries have agreed to create a 7,500 km ring road around the Black Sea. Economic cooperation is the main objective, but the road could bring much needed tourists - and their money - to new areas of Eurasia. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova and Serbia all agreed to the project at a conference of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organisation.

10/04/2007
President of Turkmenistan awards Galkynysh medal to head of Ukrainian company. Addressing participants at the inauguration of two new gas compressor stations in the north of Turkmenistan - Deryalyk and Yylanly, Gurbanbuly Berdimuhammedov praised the work of the specialists of the joint-stock company "Sumskoy machine manufacturing scientific and production association named after M.V.Frunze". It should be noted that the Ukrainian partners built compressor stations worth US $ 180 million on order of Turkmengas state concern. The president emphasized that Turkmenistan is interested in continuing long-term cooperation with Ukraine, particularly in the oil and gas sector. The head of state called two new gas compressors "symbols of Turkmen-Ukrainian friendship, fraternity and reliable partnership."

28/03/2007
The European Union is offering to negotiate a free trade pact with Ukraine, as it seeks to build closer political and economic ties with the country without offering it the prospect of full membership in the bloc. The president of the EU's executive office, Jose Manuel Barroso, met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to discuss a possible trade deal and closer energy and political ties. The political rivalry has caused concern in the EU over the stability of a neighbor that is becoming increasingly important as a transit route for western Europe's oil and gas supplies from Russia and the Caspian region.

16/03/2007
Ukraine should raise its domestic energy prices to help maintain its infrastructure, primarily the crucial pipeline that links Russia with western Europe, the International Energy Agency (IEA) according to AFX Europe. Ukraine plays a major role in securing Europe`s energy needs, taking more than 80 pct of cheap Russian gas supplies to Europe via pipeline. It also hosts major oil transit routes.

2/03/2007
Ukrsotsbank, Ukraine’s No. 6 bank by assets, plans to attract around $2 billion on the foreign markets in 2007, Ukrsotsbank Board Chairman Borys Timonkin said.
"This year, foreign borrowing will be carried out through two issues of eurobonds, at least two syndicated credits and in other forms of borrowing," he said. As reported, bids for the second issue of three-year eurobonds of Kiev-based Ukrsotsbank exceeded $750 million, which allowed the bank to attract $400 million in February. 4/03/2007

22/02/2007
Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko signed a law prohibiting the privatization of the country's natural gas transportation system. The new law, which was approved by the Ukrainian parliament on February 6, bans the restructuring of companies running major pipelines, except to establish enterprises that are 100% owned by the state. It will be prohibited to transfer the property of pipeline operators and of national oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy, its subsidiaries and gas storages, or to transfer their property from one balance to another, rent, lease or grant it in concession.

12/02/2007
Viktor Yushchenko said at the Munich Conference on Security Policy on February 10 that Europe needs to take into account the interests of the countries that serve as transit routes for Europe-bound energy supplies. Yushchenko recalled that Ukraine transported 45 million tons of oil and 129 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe in 2006. He added that these volumes could and should be increased, but only if Ukraine's partners in Europe show their interest in new projects, including the transportation of oil from the Caspian region and Central Asian countries.

8/02/2007
Swiss-based food giant Nestle, already a leading player on the Ukrainian market, has unveiled plans to invest about $50 million into the launching of a new ketchup and sauce production facility in western Ukraine, securing its position in a largely saturated market. Nestle currently employs about 3,000 people in Ukraine.

21/01/2007
By end January Ukraine and Russia will create a working group to develop "Kyiv-Moscow" and "Moscow - Simferopol" highway, such an agreement was reached at a meeting between top officials of the ukrainian and russian transport ministries.

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