Daily monitor

According to a press release issued by the Bogdan Automobile Plant [LUAZ UZ, U/R], the company decreased production by 68% YoY to 6,063 cars in 1Q2009. In March, production dropped by 27.9% MoM to 2,031 cars, of which 794 cars were made as SKD assembly and 1,237 as CKD assembly.

The Arterium Corporation, which unites the Lviv-based Halychfarm company and the Kyiv-based Kyivmedpreparat, has announced that it will meet GMP requirements by 2011..

Electricity consumption in Ukraine in January-March 2009 dropped 12.7% YoY to 45.9 TWh. Net electricity consumption in the country in this three months fell by 14.5% YoY to 35.4 TWh. Notably, in January-February 2009, net electricity consumption saw a considerable 16% YoY decline.

According to a note from the National Bank of Ukraine, the monetary base grew 0.8% MoM in March (a 6.4% decline YTD) and has, therefore, reached UAH 174.8 bln (USD 22.7 bln). At the same time, the money mass shrank 1.5% MoM (10.1% decline YTD), reaching UAH 463.7 bln (USD 6.0 bln).

According to Wilhelm Nüse, a member of Commerzbank Group's regional council for Eastern and Central Europe and the Vice-Chairman of the supervisory council of Forum Bank [FORM UZ, U/R], Commerzbank intends to continue its development in Ukraine and is going to increase FORM’s statutory capital by UAH 500 mln in 2009.

According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Industrial Policy of Ukraine, domestic nitrogen fertilizer producers may soon be able to import natural gas directly, bypassing Naftohaz of Ukraine.

As of April 1, 2009, Ukraine’s grain exports reached 21.5 mln mt. This is a record amount for Ukraine. According to Mr. Yuriy Melnik, the Minister of Agriculture, Ukraine is able to export a total 25-25.5 mln mt of grain in the 2008/09 marketing year.

According to an official press release issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ukrainian agrarians have sown 1.4 mln ha with spring crops. In particular, spring wheat was sown on 55 thsd ha (17% of the expected area), spring barley was sown on 1120 thsd ha (32% respectively), oats on 76 thsd ha (16%), and peas on 115 thsd ha (44%).

Sumy Frunze Machine Building [SMASH UZ, N/R] - one of largest European producers of equipment for the oil, gas, and chemical industries – has secured a deal with Russian gas monopoly ‘Gazprom’, whereby it will supply compressor equipment for the Ivanovskaya and Lukoyanovskaya compressor plants.

According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the amount of deposits declined by UAH 6.5 bln (2.04% MoM) in March, whereas, in February, the outflow had reached UAH 19 bln (5.6% MoM). In particular, UAH-denominated deposits fell by UAH 2 bln (-1.1% MoM or -12.8% YtD), FX deposits dropped by UAH 4.5 bln (-3.1% MoM or -11.5% YtD). Total deposits fell by 12.3% or 43.8 bln YtD and, as of April 1, equaled UAH 313.9 bln.