KIEV, July 27 - Foreign investment in the Ukrainian banking sector amounted to a tentative $430 million in the first half of 2006, Valeriy Lytvytsky, head of an advisor group for the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, said.

"These are preliminary figures and this number could be a bit high. At the same time, direct foreign investment amounted to $2.2 billion in January-June, which is a record high for this period," Lytvytsky told Interfax.