Thursday, December 3, 1998

Valery Budko, 35, a wiry man barely 5 feet tall, worries less about cold and hunger than about leaving here empty-handed after 14 years.
      The government, he said, owes him and his wife Lyubov 76,000 rubles in back wages and relocation subsidies--the equivalent of about $13,000 until the ruble lost nearly two-thirds of its value in August.
      "If we had been paid in June or July, we could have bought a house or apartment almost anywhere," he said over tea in his kitchen. "We doubt this money will be enough today."
      The Budkos' dream dissipated like a breath in the cold.
      Inflation ate their savings. Their post-Soviet paychecks lagged months and then years behind. Driving a load of ore from the mountain in 1994, Valery suffered a heart attack, and he then went on a disability pension. Nastya, his frail daughter, developed a kidney infection. Medical bills mounted. So did the cost of resettling.
      "We became hostages," Lyubov Budko said.
      "They'll try to force us out without paying us a kopeck," Budko said.
      To qualify for a relocation subsidy, a family must send one of its adult members away from the North. But the person who leaves gives up any claim to back pay.