KIEV, Aug. 17 - Kulczyk Oil Ventures Limited (KOVL, Cyprus), controlled by Polish businessman Jan Kulczyk, has started drilling its first well in Ukraine, according to a statement by the company made on a stock exchange.

KIEV, Aug. 17 – The electronic database of the UkrSEPRO national certification and licensing system has been destroyed, Serhiy Dorotych, the first deputy director general of state-run Ukrainian R&D and Training Center for Standardization, Certification and Quality, told reporters on Tuesday.

KREMENCHUK, Aug. 17 – Kremenchuk wheel plant (Poltava region) has signed a contract with Egypt's El Rwad Group Company on the supply of 40,000 sets of wheels.

The value of the contract is not to be disclosed.

Wheels for Hyundai cars will be supplied by November.

KIEV, Aug. 17 – Ukraine has taken 49th place in the ranking of the world's best countries, which has been published on the official Web site of Newsweek magazine, and became the country with the best quality of life among low-income countries.

KIEV, Aug. 18 – The state commission for financial service markets regulation of Ukraine has agreed a draft cabinet resolution on the creation of Assistance-Service state-run company – the single state insurance agent for signing medical insurance agreements with foreigners or stateless persons.

KIEV, Aug. 18 – Karpatnaftokhim Ltd. (Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region) announced plans to start operations, on August 25 launching polyethylene production facilities and on August 27 starting up ethylene production facilities.

KIEV, Aug. 17 – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and KfW (Germany) could join the shareholders of Ukraine's Megabank (Kharkiv), according to the EBRD office in Kiev.

KIEV, Aug. 18 – Foreign parental groups could trim support given to daughter companies in Ukraine in the light of further reduction in public credit and the recession of the Ukrainian economy, according to the Credit-Rating agency.

KIEV, Aug. 18 – Active interventions of the National Bank of Ukraine could return the hryvnia exchange rate to UAH 7.7-7.8/$1 from UAH 8.33/$1 after trading on Friday, said Oleksandr Okhrymenko, an advisor to the chairman of Ukrgasbank.

KIEV, Aug. 18 – The net growth of foreign direct investment in Ukraine January through June 2009 was estimated at $2.359 billion, which was 34.1% of the figure registered in the first half of 2008, the State Statistics Committee reported.