KIEV, Dec. 27 – A swift rise in the prices of oil producer Ukrnafta's equities has been triggered mainly by rumors of the sale by the Privat Group of its stake in that company, say stock market players polled by Interfax-Ukraine.

Dmytro Tarabakin, the managing director of the Dragon Capital investment company, says that the main cause behind the considerable increase in the price of the oil company's equities was rumors that the Privat Group is going to withdraw from Ukrnafta at a price which is much higher than the market one.