Daily monitor

Motor Sich [MSICH UZ, U/R] has signed a contract with the Chinese company Tianli for the licensed repair licensed repair of ÀI-25TLK engines for K-8J VPS training aircraft owned by the Chinese Air Force. According to the Industrial Policy Ministry of Ukraine, these are scientific-training aircraft.

The State Statistics Committee of Ukraine released figures about real GDP dynamics in October; GDP fell 2.1% YoY, compared to 5.5% YoY growth in September. GDP in January-October grew 5.8% YoY, compared to 6.9% YoY growth in January-September.

The Open Joint-Stock Company Dniprovagonmash [DNVM UZ, BUY], a large Ukrainian railcar producer, released its results for the period January-September 2008. The company’s plant increased railcar output by 17% to around 3,000 units, compared to its results for the first nine months of 2007.

According to an official announcement made by the Ukrainian Antimonopoly Committee, it has approved the option for Kryukiv Railcar [KVBZ UZ, BUY] to purchase a controlling stake in the Kremenchug Steel Plant [KRST UZ, N/R].

The agricultural holding ‘Mriya’ [MAYA GR, N/R] has expanded its land bank by 14.4% to 140 thsd ha. In particular, 6.5 thsd ha of this is located in the Ternopil Region, 9.5 thsd ha in the Chernovitskiy Region, and 4.2 thsd ha in the Khmelnitskiy Region. The land banks were obtained through lease agreements.

The National Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) has decreased regulated electricity tariffs for teh state-owned nuclear power company Energoatom and the national hydro energy generating company Ukrgidroenergo for the second half of November. Energoatom will earn 9.41% less (UAH 12.9 per MW). Ukrgidroenergo’s regulated tariff was lowered 82.83% to UAH 009.1 per MW.

The State Statistics Committee of Ukraine (Goskomstat) revealed that, in October 2008, the production of slate cement increased 2.2% to reach 63.8 mln tiles, compared with output in October 2007. For the purposes of this calculation, slate includes corrugated plates, slate and other asbestos cement products.

In October 2008, Ukraine’s cement production fell by 10.1% to 1.291 mln metric tons, compared with October 2007. This information was released yesterday by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, with additional news issued about the growth of the country’s slate production (see related news in today’s edition of the Sokrat daily). Production of cement fell by 9.6% in the month of October, in comparison to the levels achieved in September. In the period January-October, cement production rose by 5.2% to reach an output of 13.495 mln metric tons, relative to the same ten-month period in 2007.

The preliminary results for January-October 2008 for the OJSC Kramatorsk ‘Pushka’ Cement Plant [KRCS UZ, U/R], a member of the ‘Eurocement Group Ukraine’ and affiliate of the Eurocement Group Holding, have been released. The company produced 369.1 thsd metric tons of clinker, which amounts to 107% of the company’s target of 344.8 thsd metric tons. Due to the current situation on the construction market, cement production for the same period in 2007 was 490.4 thsd metric tons, which was 90% of its 551 thsd target.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to provide a loan of EUR 175 mln to Ukrzaliznytsia, the state rail transport administration. This credit will be allocated for the replacement of railway rolling-stock. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko made this announcement at Wednesday’s Cabinet of Ministers` meeting.