KIEV, July 30 – The implementation of an agreement on a free trade zone within the Commonwealth of Independent States will have a positive impact on the Ukrainian economy, according to a financial and economic feasibility report prepared by the government.

KIEV, July 31 – Ukraine's GDP in the second quarter of 2012 against the same quarter of 2011 grew by 3%, compared to 2% in the first quarter of 2012, the State Statistics Service reported.

KIEV, July 31 – Food prices fell by 1.3% in Ukraine in H1, the State Statistics Service reported.

The largest fall [44.2%] was registered for egg prices. Sugar prices fell by 11.2$, milk prices – by 10.3%, rice prices by 10.1%, buckwheat prices – by 7.4%, butter prices – by 5.3%, cheese prices – by 4.4%, vegetable prices – by 3.8%, salo (pork fat) – by 3.7% and sunflower oil – by 1.9%.

KIEV, July 31 – Ukrainians have the right to lend money to a third party and obtain interest payments without having to have financial licenses.

A Supreme Court ruling says that if the law on financial services and state regulation of the financial service markets regulates relations only between financial service market players, the requirements of the Civil Code of Ukraine regulate relations between individuals, in particular, regarding lending agreements.

KIEV, July 29 - Ukraine extended for two weeks a tender for selecting a company to conduct a feasibility study for a liquefied natural gas terminal amid overwhelming international response, a state agency announced Thursday.

KIEV, July 28 – The conclusion of intergovernmental agreements on visa-free travel between Ukraine and Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina does not mean that they automatically take effect, said Foreign Ministry spokesman, Oleksandr Dykusarov.

KIEV, July 28 – The National Electricity Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NERC) on Thursday set a feed-in tariff on electricity produced by the largest solar power station in the CIS, with capacity of 20 megawatts and located near Okhotnykove (Saky District in Crimea).

KIEV, July 28 – Ukraine will be able to export about 35 million tons of grain in 2015, and about 45 million tons in 2017, according to President of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences and First Deputy Agrarian Policy Minister Mykola Bezuhly.

KIEV, July 30 – An interagency commission under the Cabinet of Ministers will consider next week the proposals of two oil refineries - Halychyna Oil Refinery (Lviv region) and Naftokhimik Prykarpattia (Ivano-Frankivsk region) on the direct use of the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline, Fuel and Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan, who heads the commission, said on Wednesday.

KIEV, July 30 – The efficiency of banks in Ukraine is falling in the light of growth in interest expenses over incomes, the Credit-Rating agency reported.

"Only in Q1 2008, the coefficient of efficiency of banks' activities fell by 17% year-over-year. The main reason is the growth in interest expenses over incomes, which is mainly linked with a rise in the cost of credit," the agency said.