KIEV, March 21 ??“ METRO Group, one of the world??™s largest retailers, on Wednesday reported its sales in Ukraine had skyrocketed almost 82% on the year in 2006 outpacing the growth in Russia and China.

KIEV, March 21 - Moody's Investors Service has assigned a B3 long-term senior unsecured debt rating as well as a Baa3.ua national scale rating (NSR) to hryvnia-denominated bonds to be issued by Credit-Dnepr Bank, the agency reported.

KIEV, March 21 - Emfesz Kft. plans to build a pipeline from Ukraine to Hungary to provide natural gas for a combined cycle power plant it plans to build in northeast Hungary, Emfesz Managing Director Istvan Goczi said Wednesday.

KIEV, March 21 - France's BNP Paribas, the biggest shareholder in Kharkiv-based UkrSibbank, is planning to keep its 51% stake in the bank's charter capital after the Ukrainian bank places additional shares for UAH 450 million.

MOSCOW, March 21 - VAB Bank has given a mandate to Landesbank Berlin, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Austria and UniCredit to organize a foreign loan that is expected to be worth at least $30 million, Interfax reported.

KIEV, March 21 - Ukraine on Wednesday held its first ever auction among foreign companies to sell power for exports to the European Union marking a change of the way such exports will now be handled.

HORLIVKA, March 21 ??“ The Environment Ministry approved the first project on utilizing methane gas at Zasiadko, Ukraine??™s largest coal mine, in the Donetsk region under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, the ministry said.

PRAGUE, March 21 - Czech national air carrier Czech Airlines will start regular flights to the Ukrainian city of Odessa March 26 as part of its new summer flight schedule, CSA spokesperson Jitka Novotna said Tuesday.

KIEV, March 18 ??“ Lex Holding (Kiev), the owner of the Karavan trading and entertaining centers, will invest about $135 million into development of three centers in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia, a company representative says.

KIEV, March 21 ??“ The Ukrainian Association of Ferroalloy Producers (Dnipropetrovsk) believes Ukrainian producers of manganese ore ??“ Marhanets and Ordzhonikidze Ore Mining and Dressing Mills should boost exports because of the favorable situation in the international markets for their output.