Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma pushed the begging bowl across the table when he met Al Gore on Wednesday. "Kuchma told Gore that Ukraine is in crisis and desperately needs a $2.5 billion bailout from the IMF," says TIME correspondent Yuri Zarakhovich. "He's hoping the U.S. will use its influence, because right now the IMF has even suspended existing credits to the country." The reason: Ukraine has made scant progress in reforming its Soviet-era economy, nor is it likely to while Kuchma remains shackled by a leftist-dominated parliament.