UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR OFFICIALS APPEAL FOR MORE FUNDS. Some 28 Ukrainian nuclear energy officials have warned of a deepening crisis in their struggling industry and appealed to the government for more money, AP reported on 8 February. A letter signed by nuclear plant directors, scientists, and energy executives says the failure of consumers to pay their bills has left nuclear plants unable to pay wages or upgrade aging equipment. Nuclear officials also said that existing energy facilities in the country are inadequate and that many nuclear plants are operating in dangerous conditions. PB

UKRAINIAN DEPUTY QUESTIONS IMF RELATIONSHIP. Adam Martynyuk, the first deputy speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, said on 8 February that the legislature will debate Kyiv's relationship with the IMF, Reuters reported. Martynyuk, who leads a Communist bloc in the parliament, said "even a portion of the executive branch [is]starting to understand that it is time to reject the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank." He said the government is not implementing its own program but "the parameters of the IMF memorandum." PB