- France: Data published by the French Finance Ministry and the Bank of France reveals that the French sharply scaled back direct foreign investment during the first nine months of 2001 from EUR 126 billion in the same period of 2000 to EUR 74.2 billion this year. The Ministry signalled that the fall was due to a falling number of large-scale company acquisitions, following the year 2000 which was characterised by massive mergers. - Ukraine: the volume of direct foreign investment in Ukraine fell by 10% from January - September 2001 compared with the same period last year. Foreign investors injected $530 million in Ukraine during the same time period. Foreign investment in the Ukraine since it became independent in 1991 totalled $ 4.2 billion as at 1 October 2001, which is relatively low considering the economic potential of the country, according to experts.