KIEV, May 21 – The area of vineyards in Ukraine could be expanded by 1,000 hectares in 2013, the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine said in a report.

The ministry said that as of late 2012 the area of vineyards in the country stood at some 84,000 hectares.

KIEV, May 21 - Ukrainian producers exporting their products to Europe will be able to save around EUR 487 million per year on the payment of export duties after the signing of an agreement on the creation of a free trade area between Ukraine and the EU.

KIEV, May 18 – The growth of Ukraine's gross domestic product will speed up to 4% in 2013 from 2.5% in 2012, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development reported in its updated Regional Economic Prospects bulletin.

KIEV, May 19 – Representatives of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) after a planned auditing of Interpipe Nyzhniodniprovsky pipe-rolling plant (Dnipropetrovsk) have approved the quality management system at the enterprise and its correspondence to the AAR M-1003 field standard, according to the plant.

KIEV, May 20 – EnergoAtom, Ukraine’s nuclear monopoly, is in talks on the organization of Ukrainian electricity exports generated at nuclear power plants to Russia.

KIEV, May 21 – The crisis in the Ukrainian banking system could worsen in the fall if the situation with industrial production in the country worsens, according to analysts from the DAGDA research company.

LONDON, May 19 -Moody's Investors Service believes the Ukrainian government's credit position has strengthened in recent years, yet problems may arise in the future, the ratings agency said in its annual report on Ukraine.

KIEV, May 20 – Smart-Holding managing company plans to invest over $1.5 billion in a project to build a deep-water port on the basis of Ochakiv Port Ltd. in Mykolaiv region, Smart-Holding director general, Oleksiy Pertin, said in an interview with the Investgazeta newspaper.

KIEV, May 20 – The construction of a new oil refinery in Ukraine is not in line with the interest of the sector, according to Volodymyr Trotsenko, deputy chairman of Ukrnafta, the largest oil extracting company in Ukraine, the management of which is linked to the co-owners of PrivatBank.

KIEV, May 20 – Ukrainian companies in the agricultural sector are expecting a rise in investment, according to Anna Dudchenko, an analyst with Concorde Capital Investment Company.