• Eurovision present for Ukraine? Today, the Council of the European Union is expected to vote to grant Ukraine a visa-free regime. The EU is expected to announce the final decision within a few days, Federica Mogherini said Wednesday at the UN Security Council, Deutsche Welle reports.

• With air traffic to Europe growing, a new Ukrainian airline will be set up soon, possibly this year. It is to compete with the Ukraine International Airlines, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian told RBC-Ukraine.

• In 2016, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested in Ukraine EUR 581 million. It is 41.7% less than in 2015, according to the EBRD's annual report.

• Ukrgazvydobuvannia intends to raise $76 million in financing from the EBRD and the European Investment Bank to implement a project to increase natural gas production from existing wells, according to the EBRD press service.

• About 200 households have installed private solar power systems with a total capacity of 3.4 MW in the first quarter of 2017, according to the website of the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving.

• International Monetary Fund representatives will arrive in Ukraine next Tuesday to be presented with a bill on pension reform, Minister of Social Policy Andriy Reva said.

• Valeriya Gontareva, governor of National Bank of Ukraine, appointed her first deputy Yakiv Smoliy as acting head of the central bank, effective today, May 11, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

• Assets of banks operating in Ukraine, excluding the insolvent financial institutions, grew by $367 million to $47.8 billion, according to the the National Bank.

• Inflation this year has been: 0.9% in April;1.8% in March; 1% in February; and 1.1% in January. Rates from the State Statistics Service.

• Ukraine’s film industry is developing well and could reach self-sufficiency in five years if granted state support in the interim, Pylyp Illenko, chairman of Ukraine’s State Film Agency, told a press conference at Ukrinform.

For comments and news tips, please email UBJ AM editor Vitalii Dubenskyi at vitalii.dubenskyi@theubj.com