KYIV, Aug 5 – State-owned PrivatBank in January-June continued to top the list of the most profitable Ukrainian banks, declaring UAH 14.04 billion of net profit, despite loss of UAH 5.58 billion seen in June, according to the data posted on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on Wednesday.

KIEV, Aug. 4 - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering issuing EUR55 million to the subsidiaries of Groupe Soufflet in Ukraine to replenish working capital related to procurement, production and sale of agricultural products.

KIEV, Aug. 2 - Kiev Regional State Administration has appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers asking it to provide state guarantees of UAH 3.3 billion to raise funds for the implementation of two commercial projects as part of the State Economic Stimulation Program, the director of the department for economic development and trade, Volodymyr Horbyk, has said.

KIEV, Aug. 2 – The surplus of Ukraine's balance of payments in January-June 2013 was $2.18 billion, while in the first half of 2012 there was a deficit of $1.119 billion, the National Bank of Ukraine reported.

KIEV, Aug. 2 - President Viktor Yanukovych has signed a law that allows the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation and other international financial institutions to issue bonds in the national currency of Ukraine.

KIEV, Aug. 2 – The World Bank could issue systemic loans to finance the national budget worth a total of $800 million to Ukraine if the country renews cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry reported.

KIEV, Aug. 2 – Ukraine's state-run arms exporter Ukrspecexport has neither denied nor confirmed media reports about the problems with the delivery of a batch of 40 Ukrainian-made BTR-4 armored personnel carriers handed over to Iraq in February because of alleged cracks in the vehicles' bodies.

ASTANA, Aug. 5 – The Committee for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision at the Health Ministry of Kazakhstan has conducted an inspection of seven types of confectionery produced by Ukraine's Roshen Corporation, and benzopyrene was not found, said Zhandarbek Bekshin, the chairman of the committee.

KIEV, August 3 – The labeling requirements of the law on the languages will lead to losses at breweries, the sector organization Ukrpyvo said.

"The observation of the proposed requirement of the law by producers will require urgent radical changes in many production, logistics, business and other processes, due to which only the beer and soft drink sector, but all of domestic goods producers will have to see multi-million losses," reads a report of the association issued on August 2.

KIEV, August 3 – The Cabinet of Ministers has allocated UAH 869.2 million for exploration of oil and gas, which is almost three times up on 2011.

According to the volumes of the state order for 2012 approved by the cabinet in resolution No. 689 of August 1, 2012 and published on Thursday, the financing of the development of the mineral and raw material base is to be doubled compared to last year, to UAH 1 billion.