KIEV, June 24 – Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko has signed an agreement on free trade with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which unites Ireland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

KIEV, June 25 – Kharkiv-based Turboatom and India's Larsen&Tubro will create a consortium to receive orders to supply hydro turbines to Indian hydro power plants, with construction to be started in the next three years.

KIEV, June 28 - The Economy Ministry is expecting inflation at a level of up to 0.5% to replace deflation in June, Deputy Economy Minister Mykhailo Rusynsky said at a briefing.

KIEV, June 27 ??“ Ukraine International Airlines, Ukraine??™s second largest airline, has started direct regular flights between Lviv and Barcelona, the company reported Monday.

KIEV, June 27 ??“ Ukreximbank and Oschadbank, the two state-owned banks in Ukraine, have been seeking to join forces to start lending for large-scale projects in the state and private sectors, the banks reported Monday.

MOSCOW, June 27 ??“ RosUkrEnergo, a Swiss-registered gas trader thought to be controlled by Gazprom, will buy and store in Ukrainian underground gas tanks 5.2 billion cubic meters of gas before the winter, a shareholder said.

KIEV, June 27 - Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian businessman who claims to own 40% stake in RosUkrEnergo, a controversial gas trader, suggested he had recently also acquired a 74.9% in a big Russian natural gas producer.

KIEV, June 24 ??“ AutoKrAZ Holding Company (Kremenchuk, Poltava region), Ukraine's only producer of heavy-tonnage trucks, is planning to supply at least 100 trucks to Uzbekistan in 2005, 2.8 times more than last year, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

KIEV, June 24 ??“ Before the end of the year, China's Chery Automobile Co. is planning to produce around 500 cars at a plant in Dnipropetrovsk region, said Aslan Arsanukaev, the president of the AutoInvestBud Company, an official distributor of China's Chery State Automobile Plant, speaking at a press conference on Thursday.

KYIV, May 28 – Dragon Capital investment group has revised the forecast for the average annual exchange rate of the hryvnia in 2024 from UAH 37.3/$1 to UAH 40/$1, and the rate at the end of the year – from UAH 39/$1 to UAH 42/$1, however, it maintained its GDP growth forecast at 4%.