  Slave boson mean-field approximation is carried out analytically for weakly
doped CuO_2 conduction planes, characterized by Cu-O charge transfer energy
\Delta_{pd}, Cu-O hopping t_0, O-O hopping t' and repulsion U_d between holes
on Cu site taken as infinite. At zero doping \delta, finite negative
t',|t'|<t_0/2, expands the range of stability of the covalent, conducting state
on the expense of the insulating state which, however, remains stable at larger
\Delta_{pd}. For sufficiently large \Delta_{pd} the renormalized charge
transfer energy saturates at 4|t'| instead of decreasing to zero, as at t'=0
case. In contrast to t', finite \delta suppresses the insulating state nearly
symmetrically with respect to the sign of \delta. The regime with charge
transfer energy renormalized close to 4|t'| fits remarkably well the ARPES
spectra of Bi2212 and LSCO, and, in the latter case, explains the observed
strong doping dependence of the Cu-O hopping.
