MOSCOW, October 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Ministry of Health and Social Development has turned down proposals to significantly increase the amount of monthly monetary compensation paid to victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
In a report prepared for the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, the ministry said the victims of the world's greatest nuclear accident had already been receiving up to $891 and various medical benefits.
"The proposal to significantly increase the amount of monthly monetary compensation for disabled by Chernobyl appears to be ungrounded," the report said. "Besides, such a measure will give them even more special privileges compared to other categories of the disabled."
Maxim Topilin, Head of the Labor and Employment Service of the Russian Federation, said the construction of new radiological centers for treatment of Russian citizens who received excessive dozes of radiation would be considered in the framework of a national project called Health.