Daily monitor

The Kernel Group [KER PW, N/R], a bulk oil and grain trader, plans to attract a USD 225 mln loan from a Europe-based bank.

The largest Ukrainian car producer, Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant (ZAZ) plans to attract a USD 125 mln syndicated loan.

According to the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, the incomes of Ukrainians grew 4.7% MoM in July.

The State Statistics Committee of Ukraine announced MoM deflation of 0.1% in August 2008, after 0.5% deflation in July 2008.

Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko has underlined the unsatisfying quality of pharmaceuticals considering their high prices.

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers announced that it is transferring UAH 50 mln (USD 10.3 mln) to the Ukrainian Oschadbank, a successor of the Soviet Sberbank, to reimburse the lost bank deposits to those persons who held deposits in the former Sberbank.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) announced that Ukraine’s monetary base increased in August 2008 3.2% MoM (19.1% YTD), thus reaching UAH 169 bln (USD 34.8 bln), while M3 grew 1.6% MoM (19.8% YTD) and reached UAH 474.7 bln (USD 97.9 bln).

The Government of Ukraine has drafted a bill for the Rada (parliament), according to which beer excise duty will be increased 58% to USD 0.1 per ltr in two stages.

According to Reuters, the world could possibly face a sugar deficit in the 2008/09 marketing year, which would amount to 3.3 mln mt versus profits of 9.4 mln mt in 2007/08 marketing year.

The Ukrainian parliament approved a new preliminary draft law that obliges electricity distribution companies (oblenergos) to continue supplying electricity for public transport at low subsidized tariffs of USD 41 per MWh while the wholesale price in September reached USD 76 per MWh.