• A Turkey-Ukraine free trade will be established by spring 2018, according to Stepan Kubiv, Economic Development and Trade Minister, Ukrinform reported.

• A total of $560 million in aid for Ukraine has been submitted to the U.S. Congress, Ukraine’s embassy in Washington posted on Facebook.

• Fitch Ratings has affirmed unchanged Ukraine's Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'B-' with a Stable Outlook. The agency says the continuation of the IMF program is positive for Ukraine's credit profile, "as it supports external financing, underpins confidence and provides reform momentum."

• The Economy Ministry has invited a World Bank mission to Ukraine. Stepan Kubiv, Economic Development and Trade Minister, said: "Last year, the mission did not work in Ukraine and, consequently, the Doing Business 2017 report did not take into account some of our achievements.”

• The index of goods and services production in January-March 2017 slowed to growth of 16%, from 3.1% for Q1 2016. GDP growth accelerated to 2.1- 2.3%, from 0.1%, according the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

• Oschadbank has confiscated $1.5 billion from former President Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

• Belavia, the Belarus airline, has doubled its flight frequency on the Minsk-Odesa-Minsk route. Round trip flights will now be twice a day, according to the press service of Odesa airport.

• Antonov is upgrading Cuba’s state airline’s fleet of six An-158 passenger aircraft, Antonov reported. These 99-seat regional jets were first acquired in 2013-2014 by Cubana de Aviacion and serve Cuban and Caribbean destinations.

• In the first quarter of 2017 Ukraine's largest poultry processor MHP exported 49,150 metric tons of poultry, 60% more than during the same period of the last year, globalmeatnews reported.

• Ukraine broke a record in the exports of soybean oil, reported finchannel.com. According to the official statistics, Ukraine exported 23.6 thousand metric tons of soybean oil in March, twice the volume of February.

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