The company suffered losses of 3 billion hryvnias in the third quarter after a profit of 306.7 million hryvnias in the first half of the year due to the seasonal increase in the generation of renewable energy sources.

The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia appeared to make progress on issues preventing the conclusion of a peace deal - particularly the opening of communications links.

SMEs in Uzbekistan account for over half of the gross domestic product (GDP) and provide about two-thirds of formal and informal jobs.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.3 percent in January-November this year from a year earlier mainly backed by the growth in the non-oil sector.

The Lombard repo rate was raised to 9.25 percent from 8.75 percent and the deposit rate - to 6.25 percent from 5.75 percent.