GOVERNMENT SLASHES BENEFITS TO AREAS AFFECTED BY CHORNOBYL. The government has significantly reduced or eliminated benefits paid to some 900,000 people living in areas affected by radiation from the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, "Trud-7" reported on 24 February. A directive issued last December changed the status of 3,271 towns and villages in 14 Russian regions. Workers and pensioners living in those areas now receive less money in compensation from the government and will no longer be allowed to begin to receive pensions five years earlier than the ordinary retirement age. Child benefits have also been reduced. The newspaper argued that the government's policy of "saving money on anyone possible" runs counter to Yeltsin's declaration of 1998 as the "year of human rights" in Russia. LB

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SAYS RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA IMPROVING. On the eve of his trip to Moscow, Leonid Kuchma said in an interview published by "Izvestiya" on 24 February that relations between Kyiv and Moscow have greatly improved but are only at "B-minus" level. Kuchma said that he recently would have rated relations as a "C" but now the "toughest knots" in bilateral relations have been "unraveled." He compared Russia and Ukraine to a divorced couple that "only remember problems." Kuchma complained of low Russian investment in Ukraine, saying that its total was equal to investment from Cyprus. Acknowledging the economic and social problems in his country, Kuchma said he hoped a more reform-minded parliament would be elected when legislative elections are held on 29 March. Kuchma meets with President Yeltsin in Moscow on 26 February. PB

IS KUCHMA GETTING COLD FEET OVER GUAM? Asked by "Izvestiya" to elucidate his reservations over the CIS, Kuchma said Ukraine has not succeeded in resolving any of its major problems within the framework of the CIS, whose members, he added, have concluded numerous agreements that remain on paper. For that reason, Kuchma said, Ukraine considers bilateral ties more productive. He nonetheless said Kyiv believes the CIS should be preserved but "we are against groups of two or four inside the Commonwealth." It is unclear whether Kuchma was referring to the Russia-Belarus union, the CIS Customs Union between Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, or the Georgia-Ukraine-Azerbaijan-Moldova alignment that emerged last fall. LF

RUSSIAN DEPUTY PREMIER IN KYIV. Yakov Urinson and several prominent Russian businessmen held talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Valery Pustovoytenko on 24 February, ITAR-TASS reported. Among those joining Urinson were Vladimir Gusinksii of the Media-Most conglomerate and Mikhail Khodorkovskii, head of the oil giant Yuksi. Urinson said he would discuss economic topics and issues related to President Kuchma's upcoming visit to Moscow. Pustovoytenko said before a gathering of Russian and Ukrainian businessmen that an economic agreement expected to be signed by the countries' presidents in Moscow would double trade between the two countries over the next several years. He also called on Russian companies to take part in the construction of additional nuclear reactors in Ukraine. PB