Word: kiev
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Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma promised today that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant would be closed by 2000. Representatives from the 15-nation European Union and G-7 countries visiting Kiev called the decision "a radical change in Ukrainian policy" given the former Soviet country's grave economic difficulties. Previously, Kiev had refused to consider closing the plant, most of which has been enclosed in an unstable, radioactive sarcophagus since the 1986 disaster...
...from shopkeepers to schoolteachers stash greenbacks as a shield against hyperinflation and the sudden devaluation of their own currencies. In some cases, it is also the only way to do business. Taxi drivers in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, prefer their fares in dollars, as do some restaurants in Kiev and St. Petersburg. Says a Russian importer of IBM computers, pulling a thick wad of $50 bills from his pocket: "What do I need rubles for? I want real money...
...outlines of a new multibillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine. The seven countries would help pay for decommissioning the four nuclear reactors at the infamous Chernobyl site and completing three new nuclear power plants that would generate much more electricity. Additional billions would be extended on the condition that Kiev undertake some major economic reforms. In the view of U.S. officials, Ukraine, a nation of 52 million, could become either a new sick man of Europe or a major power and barrier to a possibly newly expansionist Russia. But having promised to give up its nuclear weapons, Ukraine needs other...
...outdoor bazaars, the bottom of the city's economic food chain -- mainly pensioners who brew "tea" with shredded carrots and can't remember the last time they bought a new scrap of clothing -- peddle their household goods to pay for tomorrow's potatoes. A short stroll from Moscow's Kiev train station, the sidewalks teem with faucets, shower fittings, cartons of milk, boxes of laundry powder, lamps, washbasins, doorknobs, frying pans, toothpaste, glue, string and old pairs of shoes...
...such trader is Leonid, a lanky, unshaven roughneck who formerly belonged to an elite unit of the Soviet army. After leaving the military in the late 1980s, Leonid spent several years repairing apartments and fixing toilets, until he started brokering Russian-made wine in front of the Kiev railway station. When he was pushed out by a group of gypsies who controlled the wine trade, Leonid turned to imported cigarettes. Since then, he has branched out; one week he may move a consignment of flashlight batteries, the next a shipment of government-issue boots, obtained from a corrupt policeman...