KIEV, June 21 - The World Bank has improved its growth forecast for Ukraine' gross domestic product for this year from 4% to 4.5%, Ruslan Piontkovsky, senior economist at the bank's representative office in Kiev, said on Tuesday.

KIEV, June 21 – Ukraine and China have signed a commercial contract on reconstruction of the Oriana potassium plant in Kalush (Ivano-Frankivsk region), which has been idle since 2002, First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Development and Trade Minister Andriy Kliuyev reported.

KIEV, June 18 – Laboratory quality tests of fuel at Ukrainian filling stations have not been conducted since the start of 2009 due to a lack of financing, the state committee for technical regulation and consumer policy of Ukraine has told Interfax-Ukraine.

ODESSA, June 18 – Odessa’s Eksimnaftoprodukt plans to transship about three million tons of oil for further transit to the Mozyr Oil Refinery (Belarus) in 2010, the company's Deputy Commercial Director Oleksandr Kozlov said.

KIEV, June 21 – Preconditions for the improvement of official forecasts for inflation and GDP growth for 2010 have formed, although the government and the National Bank of Ukraine should reinforce their support for the Ukrainian economy, according to Valeriy Lytvytsky, the head of the group of advisors to the NBU governor.

KIEV, June 21 – Ukrtransnafta plans to build a new berth at the Pivdenny sea oil terminal (Odessa region), and one of the options of the project includes the building of a berth with two-side piers for tankers with the carrying capacity of up to 100,000-150,000 tons and worth $125 million.

KIEV, June 18 – Germany's KfW has announced its readiness to allocate EUR150 million to modernize the second power unit of OJSC Tsentrenergo's Trypilla thermal power plant.

KIEV, June 20 ??“ Ukraine will not be able to pay more than $106 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, Yuriy Boyko, a former head Naftogaz Ukrayiny, the national oil and gas company, said.

KIEV, June 20 ??“ Ukraine??™s third-largest oil and gas company ChornomorNaftoGaz has started developing the Odessa gas condensate field under a joint activity program with Naftogaz Ukrayiny's subsidiary UkrGazVydobuvannya, a company official said.

KIEV, June 20 - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is lending two subsidiaries of Austria's Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG 52 million euros to boost financial support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine and Serbia.