KIEV, Aug. 30 - UkrNafta, Ukraine's biggest oil company, plans to close 2007 with a higher-than-earlier-forecast net profit of UAH850 million to UAH1 billion, first deputy CEO for economics and finance Volodymyr Pustovarov said.

WARSAW, Aug. 30 - Polish pipeline system operator PERN hopes the states interested in construction of the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk (O-B-G) oil pipeline will make their final decision to join the operator of the project in September, Marcin Jastrzebski, PERN's vice president for strategic issues, said in an interview with Interfax.

KIEV, Aug. 30 - U.S. company MaxWell Biocorporation is preparing to launch a drug production facility on the basis of a scientific and industrial cancer and cardiological center under construction in Boryspil in Kiev region, which will be the largest in Eastern Europe, the company told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, April 30 - Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steel maker, plans to invest $2 billion to upgrade and to expand its Ukrainian steelmaking operation within the next four years, the company reported Thursday.

ASHGABAT, Aug. 29 ??“ Ukraine wants to develop economic cooperation with Turkmenistan, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Viktor Maiko has said.

KIEV, Aug. 30 ??“ Ukraine and Japan are still cooperating on a project to build a terminal at Boryspil state international airport using a credit from the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japanese Ambassador Mutsuo Mabuchi has said.

KIEV, Aug. 30 - PrivatBank, Ukraine's biggest bank, is planning to raise a $250 million syndicated loan at Libor + 2%, an informed source in financial circles told Interfax.

WARSAW, Aug. 30 - Bank Pekao SA, one of two Polish banks owned by UniCredit SpA,, is planning to double investments in its Ukrainian business in the next two years so as to expand its activities in the country, the Bloomberg Agency has said.

KIEV, Aug. 30 ??“ Ukraine??™s current account deficit fell in July to $430 million, from $782 million in June, according to Valeriy Lytvytsky, head of the advisors group of the chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine.

KIEV, Aug. 30 ??“ Ukraine will pay the remaining $10.5 million debt owed to Turkmenistan for natural gas supplies within the next two weeks, a government official familiar with the plans said Wednesday.