KIEV, April 25 - Ukraine's direct and guaranteed state debt fell 4.5% to $15.23 billion in the first quarter of 2007, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said in a statement posted on its website. The state debt fell 3.31% in March.

KIEV, April 25 ??“ The net losses of Ukrtatnafta, Ukraine??™s largest oil refinery, grew by 4.1 times from January to March 2007 to UAH 117.86 million year-over-year.

KIEV, April 25 ??“ Dnipropetrovsk regional economic court on Wednesday turned down the claim of the State Property Fund asking to arrest a 50% + one stock in Nikopol ferroalloy plant in Dnipropetrovsk region, a source in the court told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, April 25 ??“ Ukreximbank, one of two state-owned commercial banks in Ukraine, is raising a loan facility of $50 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) at LIBOR+2.35%.

KIEV, April 25 - Raiffeisen International Bank AG, the biggest foreign lender in the former Soviet Union, was close to selling its smaller Ukrainian unit to OTP Bank of Hungary for $500 million, a Ukrainian official said.

KIEV, April 25 ??“ Russian Aluminum, Russia??™s biggest aluminum producer, may build a smelter in Ukraine if the government allows the company to buy cheap electricity, Rusal deputy general director Alexander Livshits said.

KIEV, April 25 ??“ France's L'Empire du vin plans to join forces with a local alcohol producer to build a $25 million cognac plant with a production capacity of 1.5 million bottles per year in Crimea.

KIEV, April 25 - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) may allocate a $100 million loan to the Industrial Union of Donbas (IUD) in Ukraine's Donetsk for upgrades, improving competitiveness and environmental programs.

KIEV, April 25 ??“ Ukrainian MPs have proposed an increase import duties on cars to 30% (from ?0.8 to ?2.6 per cubic cm of engine cylinder), and on car chassis for large-unit assembly to 20%.

KIEV, April 25 - The biggest Polish insurer, PZU S.A., is ready to invest ?40 million in Ukraine, if necessary, President of PZU Ukraine Insurance Group [earlier Skide-West Insurance Company] Andriy Peretiazhko said last week during the first international conference "Bringing Investment into Ukrainian Enterprises 2005", the group's press service reported.