Bloomberg quoted the state statistics committee said Ukrainian economic growth eased in the fourth quarter of 2011 as industrial production slowed because of weaker demand for the country’s products on world markets.

The statistics committee said gross domestic product expanded a preliminary 4.6%YoY compared with 6.6% in the previous three-month period. The result exceeded the 4.5% median estimate of three economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The statistics office said without providing any additional data that growth accelerated a seasonally adjusted 0.6% from the previous three-month period. Ukraine economy grew 5.2% in all of 2011, the fastest pace since 2007 spurred by a good harvest and increased exports, the office said. That compares with a 4.2% gain in 2010 and a 3.9% forecast by the government for 2012.

Mr Alexander Valchyshen the head of research at Investment Capital Ukraine in Kiev said “The second half of 2011 was stronger than analysts expected because of a good harvest. Mr Valchyshen sees growth of 3.5% for this year and doesn’t plan to revise it at the moment.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)