KIEV, Aug. 21 – The level of the shadow economy in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2012 grew by 0.4 percentage points year-over-year, but when rounding to a whole number the figure remained unchanged - 34% of gross domestic product, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry reported.

"According to initial estimates, two out of four methods for calculating the level of the shadow economy, which are used by the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, showed an increase in the level of the shadow economy in the first quarter of 2012, another one showed its level remaining unchanged, and only the monetary method showed that [the economy] was out of the shadows," the ministry said in a study published on Monday.