KIEV, July 6 – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have agreed to create three new groups as a part of the United-States-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Commission: civil nuclear power cooperation, political dialogue and the rule of law, and science and technology.

KIEV, July 6 - Naftogaz Ukrayiny met a key deadline on Tuesday by paying $710 million to Russia’s gas giant Gazprom for natural gas imported in June, the company said in a statement.

“Naftogaz every month in full and on time pays Gazprom for the supplied natural gas, confirming its reputation as reliable and predictable partner,” Naftogaz said in the statement.

KIEV, July 6 – The hryvnia exchange rate would receive additional support after the expected resumption of credit cooperation between the International Monetary Fund and Ukraine, according to bankers polled by Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, July 6 – A decision of the International Monetary Fund on the issue of a $14.9 billion loan under the stand-by arrangement would be an incentive for the economic development of the country and increase its investment attractiveness as a whole, according to investment company analysts polled by Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, July 3 - Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Alfa Bank Ukraine's local and foreign currency deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B3, bank financial strength rating (BFSR) to E from E+ and National Scale Rating (NSR) to Ba3.ua from Baa3.ua.

KIEV, July 3 – Turboatom, the largest turbine equipment producer in Ukraine, jointly with Sugdien (Tajikistan) and ANT (Russia) have created an international consortium to take part in a tender on the upgrade of the Golovnaya hydro power plant in Tajikistan, which will be held on July 8, 2009.

KIEV, July 6 - Myronivsky Khliboproduct agroindustrial group, the largest poultry producer in Ukraine, is intending to start exporting its produce to Germany and France if the European Union provides it with the right to supply its products to European markets, Myronivsky Khliboproduct Board Chairman Yuriy Kosiuk has said in an interview with Vlast Deneg weekly.

KIEV, July 3 – Finstar International Investment Holding, which owns the SMAK food retail chain, and Serbia's Delta Holding private company have signed an agreement to create a joint venture to develop a food store chain in Ukraine and Belarus.

KIEV, July 3 – The merger of Kiev-based SEB Bank and Kharkiv-based Factorial-Bank into a one legal entity named SEB Bank could be finalized before the start of the second half of 2009, SEB Bank Chairman Ivan Koriakin told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, July 3 – The growth in sales of new cars in Ukraine in 2008 could be 15-18%, or 620,000-650,000 cars, and not 30-38% as was forecast at the start of the year, Atlant-M Chinese Cars Company Director Dmytro Baranovsky said during a roundtable on the trends of the development of the Ukrainian car market.