KIEV, March 27 – Local governments in 2009 have faced difficulties in smoothly financing the expenses of local budgets, which affects the ability of Ukrainian cities to pay their debts, according to a Credit-Rating Agency report.

KIEV, March 27 – The Ukrainian government has agreed to a proposal from Kiev City State Administration on the registration of commitments on credits received from banks to cover short-term cash gaps of the general fund of the Kiev city budget worth UAH 1.2 billion in ordinary bills of exchange, which would mature in up to two years.

KIEV, March 29 - Raiffeisen Bank Aval, Ukraine??™s No. 2 bank by assets, plans to borrow $1 billion, mainly through syndicated loans, before the end of 2007, Viktoria Masna, head of the bank's financial institutions relations department, said Thursday.

KIEV, March 29 ??“ The stockholders of Eurocement Group Ukraine will consider appointing Demis Halchev the company's director general in place of Hennadiy Donets.

KIEV, March 29 - Moody's Investors Service put mobile operator Kyivstar on review for possible downgrade following a bitter corporate conflict between Norway??™s Telenor and Russia??™s Alfa Group.

KIEV, March 29 ??“ Wienerberger Group, a major Austrian brick producer and the second largest European producer of roofing systems, mulls spending 50 million euros to build two brick plants in Ukraine, the company said.

KIEV, March 29 ??“ Ukrainian Mobile Communications, or UMC, Ukraine??™s No. 2 cell phone company, increased its net profits 45% on the year to $323.6 million in 2005, a top UMC official reported.

KIEV, March 28 ??“ The VS Energy International N.V. Company (the Netherlands) has bought out stocks in municipal utility companies affiliated with Russian businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, Alexander Babakov, a member of Russia's State Duma and a shareholder in the Ukrainian oblenergos, told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, March 28 ??“ UkrTatNafta (Kremenchuk oil refinery, Poltava region) is planning to increase refining of crude oil by 20.8% in 2005, to 8 million tons, the company told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, March 28 ??“ Azovmash (Donetsk region), Ukraine's leading heavy engineering company in terms of sales, has won a contract from Kazakhstan to supply tanks for transporting liquefied gas.