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GOVERNMENT SETS COMPENSATION TERMS FOR CHERNOBYL VICTIMS. Prime Minister Kasyanov on 29 August signed a decree setting the levels of compensation for those in the Russian Federation who suffered from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Interfax reported. The government also approved a federal program for expanding scientific research over the next five years. That program will cost almost 20 billion rubles ($600 million), the news agency said. PG

FIVE MILLION UKRAINIAN CITIZENS SAID WORKING IN RUSSIA TODAY. According to "Vremya MN" on 29 August, up to 5 million citizens of Ukraine are now working in Russia because they are paid better there. But their presence, the paper said, is an increasingly important factor in drawing the two countries together. PG

TURKMENISTAN, UKRAINE AGREE ON RESTRUCTURING KYIV'S GAS DEBT. Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov spoke by telephone with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on 28 August and agreed on restructuring Kyiv's outstanding $282 million energy debt to Turkmenistan, Interfax reported. A Ukrainian delegation will arrive in Ashgabat on 30 August to finalize the deal. PG

RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR URGES UKRAINIAN INVESTMENT IN RUSSIA. Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin on 29 August called on Ukrainian businessmen to act "more bravely" on Russian markets, Interfax reported. Speaking at a news conference in Zaporizhzhya (southeastern Ukraine), Chernomyrdin said the Ukrainian government should create favorable conditions to stimulate investments in the Russian economy. Simultaneously, he noted that Russian capital in Ukraine has been operating at a "weak" level. According to official data, Russia is Ukraine's largest trade partner, having received 27.2 percent of Ukraine's exports and supplying Ukraine with 38 percent of its imports over the first six months of 2001. JM

SON OF SLAIN UKRAINIAN JOURNALIST CRITICIZES INVESTIGATION. Oleksiy Aleksandrov, the son of slain journalist Ihor Aleksandrov, has written in an open letter that the official investigation into his father's death is inefficient, AP and the "Ukrayinska pravda" website reported on 29 August. Oleksiy Aleksandrov said his father was killed because he was planning to publicize the corruption activities of several local officials in Slavyansk, eastern Ukraine, where he ran a television station before his death. Oleksiy Aleksandrov also said the investigators are trying to cover up the real reason for his father's death, adding that they recently told his mother "in confidence" that his father's attackers mistook the journalist for someone else. Last week, Deputy Prosecutor-General Serhiy Vynohradov said police have arrested one suspect in the case. JM