•Ukraine this week will auction off nearly $150 million in assets that belonged to 48 of the country's insolvent banks, according to Interfax Ukraine.

•Ukrposhta is pursuing a deal to bring Amazon to Ukraine and is hopeful the prestigious online retailer will arrive by the end of the year, multiple sources reported. The head of the mail and package delivery service, Igor Smelyanski, said Ukrposhta is already capable of handling the logistics involved, but the deal is complicated by the need to work out details with various entities abroad.

•Russia's VTB is on the verge of selling BM Bank in Ukraine, according to Unian, and the Ukrainian affiliate of VTB could be transformed into a financial company by the end of the year, although that's only one possible option, Interfax Ukraine reported. Also, various news outlets reported that the former Sberbank subsidiary in Ukraine, which was sold earlier this week, will be renamed Novik Banka.

•The Odesa region Port of Yuzhne plans to pour $28 million into upgrading a terminal this year to accommodate shipments of coal and increase handling capacity for iron ore shipments, Interfax Ukraine reported.

•Exports of cranberries and bilberries from Ukraine tripled in 2016, bringing almost $7 million of currency revenue to the country, the Agriculture Ministry announced. Ukraine also saw healthy rises in its exports of raspberries, blackberries, mulberries and strawberries.

•In other fruit news, Ukrainian apple exports to the European Union have skyrocketed in the past three years, registering an astounding increase of 347 times over. Meanwhile, Ukraine exported 55 times more apples to Asia in the same time frame.

•Real wages for Ukrainians rose 18 percent year-on-year in February, the State Statistics Service reported. Kyiv offered the highest average wage, while the Ternopil region paid the lowest on average.

•Turkey is thinking about seeking a new engine supplier for its military's primary tank, the Altay, and Ukraine could become that source, a Turkish defense publication reported. Prime Minister Volodomyr Groysman signed a memorandum of understanding with Ankara regarding tank engines during a recent visit. The Turkish publication listed an engine manufactured by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau as a potential option.

•Latvia's AirBaltic has resumed direct service between Odesa and Riga after a three-year hiatus, Unian reported. The first of the renewed flights had 66 passengers and was greeted on arrival in Odesa with celebratory spray of water.

For comments and news tips, please email UBJ AM editor David Edwards at david.edwards@theubj.com.