KIEV, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The alliance of Ukraine's major state-run firms has returned to profit in 2016 after four consecutive years of decline, official data showed on Tuesday.
Last year, 94 largest government-owned companies posted a consolidated profit of 1.04 billion U.S. dollars, while in 2015 they have recorded a loss of 2.08 billion U.S. dollars, said a statement on the government website.
The improvement was a result of the stronger performance of the oil and gas industry, electricity and machine building sectors, the statement said.
Ukraine's largest state company Naftogaz had ended 2016 with a profit of 880 million U.S. dollars compared with a 1.4 billion-dollar loss a year before, it said.
The Ukrainian Economic Development and Trade Ministry has estimated the net assets value of the major government-owned firms at 55 billion U.S. dollars at the end of the last year.
In 2016, the Ukrainian economy has emerged from a two-year-long recession mainly due to the implementation of economic reforms.
