Daily monitor

Enakievo ISW group, which includes OJSC Enakievo Iron & Steel Works [ENMZ UZ, U/R], smelted 134 thsd mt of steel in November, down 26% MoM, according to Interfax-Ukraine. Last month’s output is 42% below the 11M08 average of 230 thsd mt.

Khartsyzk Pipes & Tubes [HRTR UZ, N/R] produced 50.9 thsd mt of pipes in November, bringing the 11M08 total to 335 thsd mt, down 32% YoY. The November production volume is up 7% MoM and 67% higher than the 11M08 monthly average (30.5 thsd mt), and a full 20% below the 2007 monthly average (42.4 thsd mt).

According to Interfax-Ukraine, November production numbers in all sectors related to steel smelting continued to decline. The data is as follows.

Azovstal [AZST UZ, U/R] decreased crude steel output by 49% MoM in November to 209 thsd mt, according to Interfax-Ukraine. This is 50% below the 11M08 average of 481 thsd mt. The overall November crude steel output in Ukraine was 1.6 mln mt, down 14% MoM and 50% below the 11M08 average.

“Drugstores and pharmaceutical wholesalers are asking Viktor Yuschenko to cancel markup ceilings for drugs,” stated Vasily Dudarchuk, Vice-President of Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Association.

Ukraine's Minister of Transportation and Communications Iosyp Vinsky has spoken in favor of the privatization of Ukrtelecom [UTEL UZ, U/R], which is Ukraine's fixed-line incumbent.

Last week at its AGM, Slavutych [SLAV UZ, BUY] shareholders approved an additional issue of 96 mln shares at a par value of USD 0.14.

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has announced that Ukraine’s foreign debt dropped 1.4% MoM to USD 10.48 bln in October, while domestic debt grew 6.8% to UAH 17.67 bln (USD 3.07 bln at a 5.75 USDUAH exchange rate).

Myronivskyi Khliboprodukt [MHPC LI, U/R], a vertically integrated company consisting of 20 enterprises, is one of the biggest companies in terms of land bank under lease.

The Open Joint-Stock Company ‘Ukrtelecom’ [UTEL UZ, U/R] has proposed that mobile network operators adhere to the new rates for accessing its fixed-line network.