KIEV, Nov. 24 ??“ Finland's Evli Bank Plc by the end of 2006 is to create a new direct investment fund named Evli New Republics to invest mostly into Kazakhstan and Ukraine, as well as to other CIS countries, apart from Russia.

"Primarily, the fund would focus on investment in Kazakhstan and Ukraine, where political stability and transparency is better than in other CIS countries," reads a bank press release.