Daily monitor

The National Electricity Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NERC) has confirmed retail electricity tariff rates for energy-supply companies for October 2008.

The Open Joint-Stock Company Kyivenergo [KIEN UZ, BUY] reported net losses of UAH 158 mln for the period January to August 2008.

The merchandise balance deficit in Ukraine for January-August is USD 12.5 bln; USD 1.4 bln higher than in January-July and USD 6.5 bln times higher than for the same period in 2007.

Sumy Frunze [SMASH UZ, N/R], one of largest European producers of equipment for the oil and gas and the chemical industries, has delivered compressor equipment and power units to the company Surgutneftegaz (Russia), as part of a deal valued at USD 50 mln.

Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG has provided a US 180 mln term loan to Ukraine’s Open Joint Stock Company "Raiffeisen Bank Aval" [BAVL UZ, U/R]. The agreement was signed on October 13, 2008 and will mature on December 31, 2009 with the option of being extended until December 31, 2010.

For the first three quarters of 2008, Ukraine’s Bank Forum [FORM UZ, N/R] has reported an increase in net profits by 87.5% on the year to UAH 68.9 mln (equivalent to USD 13.43 mln or EUR 9.83 mln).

According to statistics reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Ukrainian enterprises belonging to the Dyckerhoff Zement Group increased production for the period January-August 2008 by 8.6%, compared to the same period in 2007. The total production for this period was 1,845 mln metric tons

The PFTS Index Committee has approved changes to the PFTS index basket and a new methodology for calculating the index basket. These changes will come into effect as of October 15 and October 13 respectively.

The State Statistics Committee of Ukraine has announced that real GDP in January-September 2008 grew 6.9% YoY. At the same time, real GDP in September 2008 grew 5.5% YoY after a 10.9% YoY growth in August. The earlier-released figures for January-August 2008 announced 7.1% YoY growth.

On Wednesday, the international rating agency Standard & Poor’s announced that it had revised its outlook about the long-term counterparty credit ratings of three Ukrainian banks from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’.