It relates to the disappearance of Kiev journalist Georgy Gongadze, who was very critical of Kuchma and is believed to have been kidnapped and killed. Several days ago the speaker of parliament revealed a tape recording made by a former bodyguard of Kuchma, which supposedly has the president meeting with senior officials and demanding in very harsh language that the journalist be killed. Opposition politicians also claim to have a videotaped confession from the bodyguard. Kuchma denies everything, and a major scandal is brewing. And of course while all this is happening, there may still be a continuing nuclear reaction under the concrete sarcophagus that was poured over the exploded reactor at Chernobyl.
Nobody knows exactly what's happening under the sarcophagus.
There have been rumors of leaks, and nobody knows how solid the construction is. One thing that's clear is that it needs constant monitoring and regular inspection, and this costs money that Ukraine does not have. Kuchma is a politician. He'll always play both ends against the middle, playing NATO countries against the Russians and vice versa. But beyond the politicking, there's a very real problem.