DUMA OFFICIALS DISAGREE ON RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN TREATY. Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker Svetlana Goryacheva on 5 March criticized the behavior of Duma CIS Affairs Committee Chairman Georgii Tikhonov and suggested that he be replaced, RFE/RL's Moscow bureau reported. During 3 March hearings on ratification of the Russian-Ukrainian friendship treaty, Tikhonov handed a Ukrainian parliamentary delegation a proposal on holding a referendum to reunite the two countries. When a Ukrainian deputy denounced that proposal as a "provocation," Tikhonov tried to force him to leave the Duma chamber. Tikhonov predicted on 5 March that no more than 50-60 Duma deputies are likely to support ratification of the treaty (226 votes are needed for a majority). Supervision within the Duma of CIS issues was recently transferred from Sergei Baburin--like Tikhonov, a member of the Popular Power faction--to Goryacheva, a Communist who supports the treaty with Ukraine. LB

ALBRIGHT ARRIVES IN KYIV. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived in Kyiv on 6 March for key talks on economic and international nuclear issues, AFP reported. Albright said Ukraine needs to rapidly adopt economic reforms, saying that "many elements are already in place." She also stressed Ukraine's key role in Europe based on "its size and geographical location." Albright is to discuss a deal to supply Iran with turbines for a nuclear power plant as well as Kyiv's efforts to resolve complaints from U.S. businesses operating in Ukraine (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 March 1998). She will meet with President Leonid Kuchma and Foreign Minister Gennady Udovenko during her half-day trip. Kuchma said on 4 March that economic issues are central to relations with the U.S. and that more foreign investment is needed. PB

DEAL WITH AUTOMAKER MEANS JOBS FOR UKRAINIANS. Oleksandr Sotnikov, the director of the AvtoZAZ car firm, said on 5 March that a deal recently signed with South Korean automaker Daewoo will bring 150,000 new jobs to Ukraine, the "Eastern Economist" reported. Sotnikov said under an agreement signed on 2 March, some $1.3 billion will be invested over the next 10 years in AvtoZAZ, which is a joint venture between Daewoo and the Zaporizhzhia auto plant. In a move to give a boost the domestic car market, the Ukrainian government recently passed a resolution increasing the costs of importing cars. The EU criticized that decision. PB

POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER, PRESIDENT ADDRESS SEJM. Bronislaw Geremek said on 5 March during his annual address to the parliament that Warsaw seeks good relations with Russia and Ukraine and wants to help Belarus out of its "self-isolation," an RFE/RL correspondent in Warsaw reported. Speaking after Geremek, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said that all parties in Poland supported the country's two major foreign-policy goals: entry into NATO and the European Union. Geremek said that although he has noticed "some realism" in Russian foreign policy, he said it is "poor" with regard to Moscow's "approach to Eastern Europe." Geremek said he also wanted to intensify cooperation between Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. PB