KIEV, May 25 ??“ Ukraine??™s new car sales are likely to increase 28.2% on the year to more than 350,000 vehicles in 2006, Valeriy Tretiyakov, a deputy industrial policy minister, said citing a recent forecast.

The increase in sales is due to growing demand as economy expands and will be led by domestically produced cars, Tretiyakov said, adding that competition from Chinese manufacturers will also accelerate.