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For the first time in several years, the Rada managed to pass the state bidget for the next year well ahead of the New Year’s holidays. At the same time, the deputies traditionally made serious changes in the tax legislation, while their attempt to cancel the achievements in the sphere of public procurement and postponement of land reform sparked public outrage - these are the main economic news of the outgoing week.

President Petro Poroshenko launched an initiative to prolong the moratorium on inspections of businesses throughout 2018, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman announced the adoption of government and Rada’s decisions early next year aimed at accelerating economic growth to 5-7%, and showered criticism on Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee, while the National Bank once again rushed to support the shaken hryvnia - these are the week’s key economic news.

The "Marshall Plan for Ukraine", initiated by the country’s European friends, intensified the discussion within the EU about the system of incentives for Ukraine’s economic and political development. The Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels last week, saw no breakthrough on the issue, although it did not put an end to the idea. Ukraine is yet to prove to European officials and financiers that the country is worth investing in.

EU leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the slowdown of certain reforms in Ukraine, the Cabinet approved the new supervisory board of the state energy holding Naftogaz, the State Statistics Service reported on the timid growth of industrial output in October, while Ukrainian farmers completed the active phase of their autumn field work - these are the main economic news of the outgoing week.

Minister of Social Policy Andriy Reva in an interview with UNIAN told about the implementation of pension reform, discussions with international lenders on its harmonization, the introduction of a funded pension system, and the upcoming changes in the Pension Fund.

President of the World Bank Group Jim Jong Kim visited Ukraine and advised that the government speed up reforms, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading the government-offered law on the state budget for 2018, while the National Bank proposed to withdraw from circulation small coins - these are the key economic events of the outgoing week.

Ukraine's roads are among the worst ones in the world, with only Mozambique and Moldova lagging behind. However, in the coming years, the situation may change. The government plans to carry out a tremendous renovation of the country’s motorway infrastructure. UNIAN decided to find out where road construction and repair will start and what will be the cost for taxpayers.

Last week, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading a number of bills - on privatization, tighter monitoring of public procurement, and increasing transparency in utility tariffs – all really important for the reform of the country's economy, while the State Statistics Service reported on a slower inflation pace in October.

Government officials continue to declare the need to raise Ukraine’s positions in various international ratings - economic, investment, and regulatory ones - as the country seeks investment. However, there has not been any breakthrough yet – ascending to TOP-50, not to mention the TOP-20, remains in our dreams. It’s only decisive steps which could promote a transition to a new quality of life.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko acted as Ukraine’s promoter in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman worked to attract Canadian businesses, the business ombudsman received a record number of complaints, and DTEK's Rinat Akhmetov threatens the safe passing of the heating season - these are the main economic news of the outgoing week.

The president has criticized the public and journalists for highlighting only bad things in the development of Ukraine, the prime minister has called on law-enforcers to cease pressure on businesses, the finance minister is still hopeful of getting an IMF disbursement by the end of the year, while the Ukrainian railways operator Ukrzaliznytsia's management has presented an optimistic plan for reforming one of the country's most corrupt companies – these are the main economic events of the outgoing week.

The Verkhovna Rada passed a bill on health reform which will change the system of healthcare financing, the International Monetary Fund is in no hurry to decide on the allocation of the next bailout tranche for Ukraine, the court allowed to recover Gazprom’s assets to the tune of UAH 171 billion, while the government reported on its performance over the nine months of 2017 - these are the week’s main economic news.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Maksym Nefyodov sat down with UNIAN to explain when exactly Ukraine should expect the arrival of big investors. He also elaborated on the new privatization legislation and the way the economy ministry is fighting fraud in public procurement.

Ukraine has renewed its interest in "clean" energy. By year-end, it is expected that a record volume of alternative energy generating capacities will have been put into operation, that is some 500-600 MW. Even private households across the country have joined the trend by actively installing solar power stations. However, renewable energy still takes up an insignificant share in the country's overall energy balance.

In Ukraine, prices are rising beyond forecasts, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman continues to inspect roadworks across the country, while infrastructure minister Volodymyr Omelyan complains over their insufficient funding and warns that this year’s repair plan will not be fulfilled. At the same time, anxiety is building up as Ukraine awaits news from Washington where the country’s delegation headed by Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk tries to convince the IMF to allocate another bailout tranche - these are the main economic news of the outgoing week.

The Verkhovna Rada adopted a long-suffering pension reform and continued to perform rather decently, having adopted a number of important laws; the World Bank announced a macroeconomic forecast for Ukraine; while the government reported on the country’s readiness for the heating season - these are the main economic news of the outgoing week.

Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Francis Malige in his interview with Ukrainian journalists spoke about the key obstacles to the inflow of foreign investment to Ukraine and prospects for the EBRD to finance natural gas purchases. He also assessed the ongoing privatization process and shared EBRD’s plans on investing in the capital of state-owned banks and other companies.

The Ukrainian government allocated UAH 100 million to eliminate the consequences of the explosions at the military arsenal in Vinnytsia region and responded to the onset of the first wave of autumn colds by intensifying preparations for the heating season. The National Bank improved its outlook for the growth of the Ukrainian economy. The Antimonopoly Committee, responding to a sharp increase in petrol prices, started a probe on the market of petroleum product. These are the main economic news of the outgoing week.

Trade Representative of Ukraine Nataliya Mikolska sat down with UNIAN to elaborate on the reasons for the growth of Ukrainian exports in 2017, the launch of more free trade areas, the main export trends toward Europe, and to tell us why Ukraine wants to review the terms of its free trade with the EU.

For the first time since the Revolution of Dignity Ukraine successfully borrowed $3 billion on the foreign market for 15 years, the Cabinet presented a draft budget 2018 in parliament which has by far failed to begin the final stage of the debate on pension reform, while the last remaining independent members of the Naftogaz supervisory board announced their intention to resign claiming that the Ukrainian government was “derailing” the gas holding’s reform - these are key economic news of the outgoing week.