Car making talks with Daewoo and Skoda; World Bank forecasts Ukraine’s GDP growth this year at 2%; Ukraine wants to get $8 bln in loans by year-end.

•South Korea’s Posco Daewoo is interested in producing electric cars and investing in grain terminals in Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine reported. On electric vehicles, Posco Daewoo is ready to create a national brand for Ukraine.

•Ukraine is ready to develop its car industry with Skoda Auto, to construct new production facilities and to promote investments in this sector, the Cabinet's press service reports. Bernhard Maier, CEO of the Czech-based multinational, is ready to design a positive business case.

•Ukraine launched an electronic register that will automatically refund value-added tax, VAT, owed to exporters, implementing an IMF-backed reform, Reuters reported. The goal is to cut corruption and improve the ease of doing business.

•Ukraine plans to receive from the IMF, its key lender, a total of $5.5 billion dollars in 2017, UNIAN reported. Other international partners, including the European Union and the United States, will allocate another $2.5 billion, bringing this year’s total funding under the EFF to $8 billion.

•The IMF has praised the monetary policy pursued by the National Bank of Ukraine and called to safeguard the regulator's independence, UNIAN reported.

•Fitch Ratings has affirmed Kyiv's and Kharkiv's Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'B-,' according to Fitch press releases. Outlook is stable.

•Pension changes could obtain parliamentary approval by end of this month, Interfax-Ukraine reported. Changes would become effective on January 1.

•The World Bank forecasts Ukraine’s GDP growth at the level of 2% this year. At a press conference Tuesday, Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine, said Ukraine’s grew last year due to the reforms carried out in the country.

•The International Monetary Fund wants the Verkhovna Rada to adopt a law on agricultural land circulation next month, Interfax-Ukraine reported. That will allow for an end to the moratorium on land sales.

•Ukraine and Latvia have agreed to cooperate on recovering stolen financial assets, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said at a briefing during his official visit, Ukrinform reported.