KIEV, March 23 - President Viktor Yanukovych ordered the government to come up with a way to lower power tariffs for Zaporizhia Ferroalloy Plant (ZFP) in an attempt to prevent its shutdown next month.

ZFP warned earlier this month its operation was unprofitable and the company may shut down its operation in April unless power tariffs are lowered.

BRUSSELS, March 23 – EU Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger believes that the international financial institutions will be able to make a decision about investing in the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportation system, with the first project coming in June or July.

KIEV, March 23 - Russian aluminum giant Rusal will have to return its 68.01% stake in Ukraine’s sole aluminum smelter ZALK back to the government, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported Friday, citing a Kiev court ruling.

KIEV, March 23 – Rodovid Bank has opened a credit line of UAH 1.546 billion to Mostobud to finance the construction of bridges over the River Dnipro in Kiev and Zaporizhia.

KIEV, March 25 – The State Property Fund has said that the gradual cutting of the state stake in the statutory capital of Kiev-based CJSC Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) is a good thing.

"I think that the state should gradually leave the company, as management [of the airline], which does not guarantee any special social functions for the state, is not profitable for it.

KIEV, March 25 – Simferopol-based Chornomornaftogaz has started supplementary exploration of the Subotyne oil field on the Black Sea shelf.

The company said that on March 24 the Syvash jack-up drilling rig arrived at the field, and now it is preparing to start drilling the third exploration well with projected depth of 3,100 meters.

IVANO-FRANKIVSK, March 25 - Karpatnaftokhim (Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region) expects to see profits in 2011 thanks to the launch of new chlorine and sodium hydroxide production facilities and a PVC-S production facility in 2010, according to the company's director general, Serhiy Chmykhalov.

KIEV, March 23 – Kerameya Ltd. (Sumy) is hoping to export the clinker ceramic bricks it produces under the KlinKeram trademark to the countries of Western Europe because of a fall in demand for the product on the Ukrainian market, Andriy Voronin, the foreign trade manager of the company, has told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, March 23 - Time Warner Inc. will invest $241.5 million in Central European Media Enterprises Ltd., which controls Ukraine's 1+1 and Kino channels, and acquire a 31% stake in the company capital in exchange, says a joint report of the companies posted on Monday.

KIEV, March 24 - Donetsk-based Altcom financial and industrial group on March 28 is to start building the Altcem cement plant in Pryozerne in Crimea with the production capacities of 3 million tons of clinker per year.