Daily monitor

New data issued by the press service of the Bogdan Corporation indicates that the Bogdan Automobile Plant [LUAZ UZ, BUY] boosted production in February, compared to January 2009, by 132%, representing an increased from 1,604 to 2,818 cars. In February, the plant manufactured 321 KIA cars, 222 Hyundai cars, and 2,275 VAZ cars.

The Kharkiv-based OJSC Turboatom [TATM UZ, HOLD] – the largest turbine manufacturer in Ukraine – has signed a new contract valued at USD 19.5 mln (UAH 150 mln using the exchange rate of UAH 7.7 per USD).

As of March 10, 2009, Ukrainian banks have prolonged a total UAH 2 bln (USD 259.7 mln) or 50% of existing loans to agrarians, as stated by the Minister of Agriculture Yuriy Melnik.

According to Yuriy Melnik, the Minister of Agriculture, Ukraine will harvest 18-20 mln mt of winter wheat in 2009.

According to a statement issued by Ukrgazbank [UGZB, U/R], the agenda of the bank’s EGM, which is going to be held on March 13, contains the issue about the necessity of requesting state support.

According to Kommersant, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's biggest brewer, may eventually sell its Russian and Ukrainian beer business as it raises cash to pay down debt.

According to a memo from the Ukrainian State Statistics Committee, consumer prices grew 1.5% MoM (4.4% YTD and 20.9% YoY), compared to a 2.9% MoM growth in January 2009 and 2.7% MoM growth in February 2008.

Ukrainian major pharmaceuticals producer Farmak [FARM UZ, HOLD] announced on Tuesday, February 24 that is posted a net loss of UAH 71.86 mln (USD 13.56 mln) for 2008.

The Dyckerhoff Zement group (Germany) extended the first credit payment to its affiliate cement plant, the JSC ‘Volyn Cement’ [VOLC UZ, U/R] as the first tranche of a line of credit totaling EUR 20 mln.

According to a note from the National Bank of Ukraine, foreign reserves fell 8.2% MoM (USD 2.36 bln) in February 2009, thus reaching USD 26.46 bln.