PRAGUE, Aug. 21 - Czech financial PPF group has bought Privatinvestbank, a small Ukrainian bank, the financial group's third acquisition in Ukraine in the space of a month, the daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) reported Monday.

KIEV, Aug. 22 - Astarta N.V. (the Netherlands, the parent company of Ukrainian agrarian holding Astarta) has raised PLN95 million (around $31.7 million) through the initial public offering (IPO) of a 20% stake on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Astarta-Kiev Director General Viktor Ivanchik said Monday, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

KIEV, Aug. 22 ??“ Russia??™s Lukoil-Nefetkhim has signed a contract with German engineering company UHDE Gmbh, a part of ThyssenKrupp Concern, on the construction of a suspended polyvinylchloride (PVC) plant at KarpatNaftoKhim Ltd. (Kalush in Ivano-Frankivsk region).

BRUSSELS, Aug. 22 - The European Chemical Industry Council, CEFIC, said on Tuesday it fears the EU market will again be flooded by Ukrainian and Russian imports of cheap silicon carbide now that the European Commission has decided not to renew anti-dumping measures against the two countries.

KIEV, Aug. 22 - Ukraine plans to increase extraction of coal to 82 million metric tons in 2007 and to 100 million metric tons in 2011 from an expected 80 million tons in 2006, Coal Industry Minister Serhiy Tulub said Tuesday.

KIEV, Aug. 22 - Galychyna, Ukraine's fifth largest oil refinery, said Monday it will not restart its operation until the end of September, putting further upward pressure on gasoline prices in a tight market.

KIEV, Aug. 22 - The Dutch Investment Fund has bought stakes in two Ukrainian cement producers - Doncement and Cement of Donbas Ltd. (both located in Donetsk region), a well-informed source told Interfax-Ukraine.

VORONEZH, Aug. 22 - The forecasted volume of standing orders for the new An-148 regional Ukrainian-Russian jet through the end of 2005 is estimated at $1.5 billion.

KYIV, July 19 – The international depositary Euroclear will make the first contribution of about EUR 1.55 billion to the European fund for Ukraine in July 2024, the company said.

KYIV, July 19 – The government's intention to impose a 15% military tax on buyers of new and used cars (including electric vehicles) during their first registration in Ukraine could lead to a collapse in car sales and result in the loss of entire networks of official car dealers, believes Oleh Omelnytsky, director of the AUTO-Consulting information and analytical group.