KIEV, Oct. 19 – EnergoAtom and France's Areva nuclear company are planning on November 14-15 to sign a framework agreement on cooperation in the radioactive waste and waste nuclear fuel processing, EnergoAtom Vice President Natalia Shumkova announced.

KIEV, Oct. 19 – Initiatives to relax currency regulations being considered by Parliament bring risks of an outflow of currency from the country and an increase in the devaluation pressure on the hryvnia exchange rate, according to Serhiy Korablin, deputy director of the currency regulation department at the National Bank of Ukraine.

KIEV, Oct. 18 – The Ukraine-EU summit, which will be held in Brussels in November, will give impetus to the signing of a free trade zone agreement no later than in 2011, has said MP Leonid Kozhara (Regions Party), the deputy head of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs.

KIEV, Oct. 18 – Kiev is expecting to receive an action plan on the European Union's introduction of a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens at the Ukraine-EU summit in Brussels on November 22, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

KIEV, Oct. 19 – The largest payments on Ukraine's state debt are to come in 2011 and 2013, with payments of UAH 53.5 billion and UAH 55.2 billion respectively, the Finance Ministry reported, citing data as of October 14.

KIEV, Oct. 19 – The year-over-year fall in Ukraine's GDP in Q3 reached some 15-15.5%, according to Valeriy Lytvytsky, the head of the group of advisors to the National Bank of Ukraine governor.

"In Q3, 2009, GDP will be less than in Q2, 2009. I estimate it at 15-15.5%; and the slowing of the pace against the previous quarter could be higher," he told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, Oct. 19 - Frunze-Flora Ltd. has filed an appeal to Kiev Economic Court to demand that the UAH 400 million it sent as a bid deposit to participate in the tender to sell Odessa Port-Side Plant be returned by Ukraine's State Property Fund.

KIEV, Oct. 19 - The existing Ukrainian gas transportation system belongs only to the Ukrainian people, and an international consortium can be established only for building new gas pipelines, Naftogaz Ukrayiny Chairman Oleh Dubyna said.

KIEV, Oct. 17 – There is a high probability that Kiev-based Prominvestbank might be bought by a large Russian bank, according to experts from Ukrainian investment companies polled by Interfax-Ukraine.

FRANKFURT, Oct. 17 - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has placed its 'B+' long-term and 'B' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Ukraine's Alfa-Bank, Kredobank and Ukrsotsbank on CreditWatch with negative implications.