Welcome to the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council

UKRAINIAN INVESTMENT SUMMIT
4th Annual Adam Smith Conference London

Monday-Wednesday, March 10-12th

The Ukrainian Investment Summit began in London on Monday.
The U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) and several members
were in attendance.  USUBC member companies represented at the
Summit included:  AES, Cargill, Chadbourne & Parke, Horizon Capital,
Kraft, PBN, Rise (Deere & Company dealer in Ukraine) Salans,
SigmaBleyzer, Vanco, Marks, Sokolov, & Burd, Shell, U.S.-Ukraine
Foundation, State Import-Export Bank of Ukraine, Baker & McKenzie,
and MJA Asset Management. 

Representatives of USUBC members on the Monday program included: 
Dr. Anders Aslund, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Senior
Advisor to USUBC; Steve Walsh, President AES Ukraine; Patrick van
Daele, General Manager, Shell E&P Ukraine, Gene Van Dyke, President
and Chairman of the Board, Vanco Energy, and Dr. George Logush,
Managing Director, Kraft Foods Ukraine.

USUBC representatives and members appearing on the program during
the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions will include:  Natalie Jaresko,
Managing Partner, Horizon Capital; Clive Cook, Partner/Serhiy Chorny,
Partner, Baker & McKenzie; and Morgan Williams, SigmaBleyzer,
President, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council.

Three news articles from the Forum:

1. UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL CONFIDENT '08 INFLATION
SINGLE DIGIT

Reuters, London, UK, Monday March 10 2008

LONDON - Ukraine's government is optimistic that 2008 inflation can be
contained within single digits, despite the large spike in prices seen in
the first two months, [deputy] finance minister Volodymyr Lytvyn said
on Monday.

Speaking at a conference in London, Lytvyn said: "Yes we had some
terrible figures in January though it slowed a bit in February. But the
finance ministry is optimistic, we have faith that inflation will be in
single digits due to strict measures that the central bank and government
are taking."

He said tightening spending was a key measure the government was
undertaking but gave no details.

Data on Friday showed February inflation at 2.7 percent, a touch under 2.9
percent in January, but higher than expected and bringing the year-on-year
inflation rate to 21.9 percent.

The government's target for 2008 is 9.6 percent, compared with last year's
16.6 percent but analysts polled by Reuters predict price growth at 13.5
percent this year. The World Bank forecasts it at 13.8 percent.

"Yes there are different estimates but for now we are optimistic that our
measures will slow inflation this year," Lytvyn said.

He declined to comment on the possibility of allowing a revaluation of the
hryvnia currency, which analysts say is urgently needed to tame price
growth as the currency is pegged to the rapidly weakening U.S. dollar.

The central bank has promised to only gradually unleash the hryvnia from
its 5.0-5.06 per dollar band but there are fears a revaluation will hit
Ukraine's export competitiveness.

Lytvyn reiterated that one of the measures would be issuing no Eurobonds
in the first half of 2008 and to rely instead on domestic debt markets.
(Reporting by Sujata Rao, writing by Sebastian Tong)

NOTE:  I could not find many participants at the Adam Smith Forum
who were confident inflation could be contained within single digits
during 2008. They felt the deputy minister of finance was very
optimistic in his comments. Many are very concerned about inflation
which some reports indicate is approaching 18-20%.  Morgan Williams.


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2.  ARCELORMITTAL INVESTMENT IN UKRAINE TO EXPAND

Dowjones Business News, London, UK, Monday March 10th, 2008

LONDON - ArcelorMittal (MT) might be forced to spend more than it had
planned on the development of its Ukraine assets, said executive vice
president Narendra Chaudhary Monday.

Speaking at the Adam Smith conference, Chaudhary said that due to difficult
global financial conditions, the company will spend more than $3 billion to
achieve its aim of producing 12 million metric tons a year by 2012.

He said the company is satisfied with its Kryvyi Rih steel mill, but cited
lack of infrastructure, human resources and cumbersome bureaucratic
procedures, notably when it comes to buying land and its future usage, as
the main challenges to the company in Ukraine.

He said he doesn't see Ukraine joining the World Trade Organization as a
risk to greater competition in steel production but urged the country's
government to abandon indicative export prices, which make Ukraine's
production less competitive.

-By Alexander Kolyandr, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 20 7842 9410
alexander.kolyandr@dowjones.com


==============================================


3.  FERREXPO TO CHOOSE A JV PARTNER BY THE MIDDLE
OF 2008 ACCORDING TO CEO 

Dow Jones, London, UK,  Monday, March 10, 2008

LONDON - Ferrexpo PLC (FXPO.LN), a U.K.-listed, Swiss-registered iron
ore miner with operations in Ukraine, expects to choose a strategic partner to
develop its two untapped mines by the middle of the year, Chief Executive
Michael Oppenheimer told Dow Jones Newswires.

"It is rather an expectation than target," he told Dow Jones Newswires on
the sidelines of the Adam Smith conference in London, adding that the
company is not financially pressed to rush into a partnership to develop its
Yeristovskoye pit. The joint venture partner the company is eyeing would
likely help develop existing assets, but will exclude the Gorishne -
Plavninskoye Lavrikovskoye, or GPL, deposit, the only one producing at
the moment, he said.

Oppenheimer declined to name a potential partner for the future JV, saying
that the company is looking at a number of companies. However, he said, it
will not be a Russian one.

The company, which currently produces about 9 million metric tons of iron
ore, of which approximately 85% is exported to steel makers around the
world, expects to reach a production level of 32 million metric tons by
2011, which would demand capital expenditures of about $4 billion.

Citing the completion of ore price negotiations between Brazil and China,
he expects the price for iron ore pellets to raise above 45% this year. "We
haven't started negotiations with any of our customers yet," he said.

Ferrexpo's key customers are VoestAlpine Stahl (VOE.VI) and United States
Steel Corp. (X).

The company, in which 73% is owned by a Ukrainian billionaire Konstantyn
Zhevago, is expected to move to the FTSE100 index shortly.

Amid the recent gas row with Russia, Opepnheimer said that the company is
quite comfortable with the current price of gas at $179.50 per 1,000 cubic
meters.

However, he said that the company would prefer higher, albeit predictable
prices, rather than the uncertainty coming with regulated ones.

"Ultimately, Ukraine's gas prices will equilibrate with European gas
prices," he said, adding that currently the gas prices account for 6% to 7%
of the company's costs.

Ferrexpo became the first Ukrainian company to list on London's main market
when it raised around GBP213 million in its initial public offering in June
2007. The company is currently a member of the FTSE-250, and, as
Oppenheimer said, might soon join the FTSE-100.

-By Alexander Kolyandr, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 20 7842 9410;
alexander.kolyandr@dowjones.com