“Although the Ukrainian parliament approved a pension reform bill in July, the president has not signed it yet,” said Olena Bilan, chief economist at Kiev-based Dragon Capital, in a note to clients today. “The IMF statement also implies the sides achieved little progress regarding an increase in domestic-gas tariffs, which is the other critical condition set forth by the fund.”

Dennis Sakva from Dragon Capital said that JKX Oil & Gas, operating in Ukraine via Poltava Petroleum Company, posted a 2% year-over-year decrease in oil and gas condensate production in July (to 0.06 MMbbl or 1,868 bpd; -10% month-over-month), bringing 7 month 2011 production down 28% year-over-year to 0.42 MMbbl (1,998 bpd).

KYIV, August 9, 2011 (UBO) – Quotations of Ukrainian Eurobonds on Monday continued their fall following other markets, UkrInform reported. Bonds Ukraine-20 and Ukraine-21 fell by another point, having closed at 101.0/101.75 (7.59/7.48 percents) and 102.0/102.75 (7.65/7.54 percents) respectively, Dragon Capital informs.

In a note to investors, Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital said the appointment will provide a boost in Ukraine and abroad to one of the top-performing Ukrainian companies on the London Stock Exchange. "Mr. Logush brings with him significant experience working in the Ukrainian food industry and a wide range of contacts with foreign investors," Dragon said.

Analysts at Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital said there is one obvious way to improve safety at Ukraine’s mines: hold owners accountable for investing more into basic safety and improving salaries. "Sometimes, [the owners] just take all the profits out of the company for themselves," said Oleksandr Makarov, a metals & mining sector analyst at Dragon Capital. "This is rather widespread."

At the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) trading started on the stocks of Ukrainian company Coal Energy, the Dragon Capital investment company statement said, UkrInform reported. Coal Energy offered 25 percent of stocks during IPO on the WSE main floor and got USD 81.4 million of new joint stock capital. Dragon Capital stood as lead manager of the offering under the auspices of Polish Dom Maklerski BZ WBK.

In terms of oil and gas condensate royalties, the law has no immediate impact on local producers, however it definitely implies positive longer-term implications, particularly for Ukrnafta, as the company’s fields have a significant number of old and exhausted wells for which a workover was previously economically unfeasible due to high royalties, sais Dennis Sakva from Dragon Capital. However, a provision of the bill authorizing the government to decide whether a field is complex or not implies additional regulatory complications for oil and gas companies.