Daily monitor

According to various news sources, the Metinvest Group has submitted a note to Bulgaria’s regulators in which Metinvest disclosed its intention to purchase the United Coal Company of the USA.

According to Interfax-Ukraine, Bagliy Coke [BKOK UZ, U/R] dropped output 34% MoM in October to 33 thsd mt. This is 47% lower than the average 9M08 value of 62 thsd mt. For comparison, the overall sector output volume dropped 18% MoM in October.

Yasynivka Coke [YASK UZ, U/R] produced 90 thsd mt of 6% water content gross coke in October, 31% less than in September and 35% lower than the average monthly 9M08 level of 139 thsd mt. For comparison, the overall sector output volume dropped 18% MoM in October.

Yesterday, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) announced that a 68% stake in PromInvestBank, one of the largest banks in Ukraine, has been acquired by a strategic investor, whose identity has not yet been disclosed.

Austria`s Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG (RZB) has provided yet another loan, valued at USD 150 mln, to its Ukrainian daughter company, Raiffeisen Bank Aval [BAVL UZ, U/R].

The Open Joint Stock Company ‘Azovmash’ has increased its sales in the first ten months of 2008 up to UAH 5.3 bln. This represents a significant increase of 60% over the same period last year. This information was disclosed by the company’s press service.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Agriculture has announced price levels for grain purchases under collateral from agricultural companies. The price for wheat of the second class will be USD 145.5 per mt, wheat of third class will be USD 128.4 per mt, wheat of sixth class – USD 87.2 per mt, and first class barley – USD 115.6 per mt.

Heidelbergcement Ukraine, one of the country’s largest cement producers, stated its intention to invest UAH 363.152 mln (USD 72 mln) into the modernization of its production facilities in 2009-2010. Respectively, this is UAH 127.557 mln in 209 and UAH 235.595 mln in 2010.

The Open Joint Stock Company ‘Ukrtelecom’ [UTEL UZ, U/R] will launch its IPTV digital cable TV service in December 2008, according to an announcement made by Ihor Syrotenko, the company’s Deputy Chairman of the Board.

A survey by the Polish research group PMR (www.pmrpublications.com) indicates that Ukraine`s pharmaceutical market will witness a growth by up to 25% per year to reach a value of USD 5.7 bln in 2010. The survey was published on mid. October.