• The German-Ukrainian Fund is ready to invest 18 million euros ($19.1 million) to develop small and midsize businesses in Ukraine, as reported by Novoe Vremya and Ukrinform. The announcement was made by the National Bank of Ukraine, whose financial control department is led by the acting director of the fund.

• According to Novoe Vremya, the number of programmers in Ukraine has grown 12 percent this year and now stands just shy of 100,000.

• Two key economic indicators are trending up, according to Novoe Vremya. Construction activity in the January-October period was up 14 percent from the same period last year. Year-on-year retail turnover January-October increased 3 percent, spurred by growth in the Kyiv and Lviv regions.

• Delo reported that the state rail company, Ukrzaliznytsa, will get 650 domestically made train cars by year’s end. Three Ukrainian railcar companies signed contracts for supplying the rail line with gondola cars for freight delivery. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Ukraine’s outdated rail network hampers delivery of the country’s record grain harvest. Ukrzaliznytsa hasn’t added a new freight locomotive in almost 50 years and is overwhelmed by the maintenance demands on grain shipment cars.

• A Slovak company has invested $4.1 million in pumpkin seed production in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Delo reported. The firm Dolina Argo SK will export its product to the European Union.

• Multiple news outlets reported that the EU supplied 54 million euros ($57.4 million) for reforms in Ukraine. The money is intended to fund reforms in the areas of decentralization, transportation and technical standardization.

• Novoe Vremya reported that Ukraine is seeking to tap into the vast potential of the Japanese market for berries and honey as well as other agricultural products. On a related note, trade turnover between Ukraine and Japan has increased 15 percent so far in 2016, according to Ukrinform.

• Ukraine is interested in participating in construction of an LNG terminal in Croatia, multiple outlets reported. The terminal is to be built on Krka Island in the Adriatic Sea.

• Ekonomicheskaya Pravda and Delo reported that Serbia has opened its market to Ukrainian poultry.