KIEV, Dec. 21 – Ukraine's gross foreign debt in January-September 2012 grew by 4.9%, or $6.21 billion, to $132.446 billion, which was 75.3% of GDP, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.

KIEV, Dec. 21 – The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors on December 20 approved a $10 million Additional Financing loan for the Development of the State Statistics System for Monitoring the Social and Economic Transformation Project (DEVSTAT) in Ukraine.

KIEV, Dec. 21 – Monetary gold in Ukraine's international reserves rose by 25.5% January through November 2012, to 1.13 million troy ounces, the National Bank of Ukraine said.

KIEV, Dec. 21 - Shell has asked Ukraine to include a potential tight gas deposit in the Donetsk-Dnepr basin on the list of deposits that will be tendered for development under production-sharing agreements.

KIEV, Dec. 23 – The prolongation of the export duty for transactions with scrap nonferrous metal is not in line with some requirements of the World Trade Organization and could lead to counter measures that could be taken by WTO members, according to a lawyer of Volkov and Partners law firm, Tetiana Kheruvimova.

KIEV, Dec. 23 – The law on public private partnership that took effect and the creation of a council of foreign investors at the parliamentary committee for industrial and regulatory policies and entrepreneurship would help increase the interest of foreign investors in Ukraine, according to the committee head, Natalia Korolevska.

KIEV, Dec. 23 – The president’s replacement of the National Bank of Ukraine governor could lead to changes in the policy of the central bank in the future, although it would not considerably affect the hryvnia exchange rate in the short-term outlook, according to bankers.

KIEV, Dec. 23 – The National Bank of Ukraine would stick to the supporting of the stability on the financial market and carry out balanced actions in the regulatory sphere after the replacement of the NBU governor, Valeriy Lytvytsky, the head of the group of advisors to the NBU governor, said.

KIEV, Dec. 23 – The National Bank of Ukraine in December bought $300 million on the interbank currency market, and since early 2009 the NBU spent $10.836 billion to support the hryvnia, Valeriy Lytvytsky, the head of the group of advisors to the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine said.

KIEV, Dec. 23 – Russian gas giant Gazprom on Tuesday agreed to extend by four days the deadline allowing Naftogaz Ukrayiny to make the next payment for natural gas imports by January 11.

The decision means there will be no gas disputes between Gazprom and Naftogaz – and no European gas supply disruptions – at least through January 11.