KIEV, Feb. 25 – By one of his first decrees, President Viktor Yanukovych cut his salary by 50% and ordered staff reduced at the presidential office by at least 20%.

Viktor Yushchenko as the president last year reported earning 492,020 hryvnias, or $61,500, from salary in 2008, according to his tax filing.

Meanwhile, Yanukovych also renamed his office as “the administration of the president,” replacing the term of “the secretariat of the president,” a term used by his predecessor Viktor Yushchenko.