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UKRAINIAN ELECTION WINNERS TO BE COMPENSATED FOR EXPENSES. Ukraine's Central Election Commission Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych said on May 2 that the five parties that managed to overcome the 3 percent voting barrier and won parliamentary representation in the March 26 vote will be compensated for their election expenses, UNIAN reported. Davydovych said the Party of Regions (186 seats) spent 112 million hryvnyas ($22 million) on its election campaign; the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (129 seats), 13 million hryvnyas; Our Ukraine (81 seats), 74 million hryvnyas; the Socialist Party (33 seats), 35 million hryvnyas; and the Communist Party (21 seats), 8 million hryvnyas. Ukraine's election law stipulates that election winners are fully compensated for election expenses of up to 35 million hryvnyas ($7 million). JM

RUSSIA OPPOSED TO RENEGOTIATING RENT FOR BLACK SEA FLEET. Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said on May 3 that Russia is opposed to renegotiating the rent Moscow pays for its Black Sea Fleet base in Ukraine, Interfax reported. "Reconsidering provisions such as the size and term of our rent is out of the question. It may result in a dangerous review of a wide range of issues, which does not meet the interests of either party," Karasin said. "The underlying agreements on deployment of the Russian fleet in Ukraine have stood the test of time and remain our foundation," Karasin said, referring to a 1997 rent deal (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 29 and June 2, 1997). Karasin spoke on the eve of a session of a Russian-Ukrainian bilateral sub-commission on Black Sea issues. BW