Ukraine may seek to increase by up to four times the amount of rent it charges Russia's Black Sea Fleet to use its Sevastopol port, Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko told a newspaper on Tuesday.

Ukraine and Russia signed a 20-year lease agreement in 1997 after years of painstaking negotiations, under which Russia is allowed to remain in the Sevastopol port until 2017, and pays Ukraine US$93 million annually to lease land and property for its Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Crimea.

But Gritsenko, in an interview published by Ukraine's Kommersant Daily, said it is "fully possible" for Ukraine to increase the price that Russia pays for its Crimean Peninsula base to US$400 million annually.

The proposal comes in the wake of Russia's and Ukraine's very public and bitter dispute over gas prices, which ended with Ukraine agreeing to purchase the fuel from Russia and Central Asiaat nearly double the previous price.

Referring to the row, Gritsenko said: "If in the very important energy sector ... relations have moved from the category of 'brotherly' to the category of 'fair market,' it's fully logical to consider that such a step will be carried out in other sectors of Ukrainian-Russian relations."

Indeed, the fallout seems to have agitated a series of other disputes between the two countries, including Ukraine's move last week to deny entry to Russian staff to the lighthouse in the Crimean city of Yalta.

An eight-member team from the Ukrainian ministry of transportation entered the Yalta lighthouse on Friday, and barred access to the Russian personnel. Russia strongly protested against the move and accused Ukraine of attempting to "seize" the navigational installations.

But Ukrainian Security Council chief Anatoliy Kinakh said Kiev was just regaining its rightful jurisdiction over the navigational facilities, which it claims are not named in the agreement. However, he added that the council will hold a special session early next month to discuss the issue.

Another meeting will be held at the level of deputy foreign ministers on Feb. 16 under the auspices of a Russian-Ukrainian presidential commission.

"As a sovereign state, (Ukraine) carries full responsibility for the safety of navigation in its territorial waters. What is happening around the lighthouses is a question that touches both on Ukraine's national security and our authority in the world," Kinah said in a televised interview.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday Ukraine was sending mixed signals about the "seizure" of the lighthouses.

"The Black Sea Fleet's hydrography installations ... are named in the 1997 agreement. The Ukrainian side is lying when it says the Yalta lighthouse is not included," Lavrov said.

He added that "we are awaiting an official clear explanation."

After President Viktor Yushchenko took power in late 2004, Ukraine-Russia relations have become increasingly strained. Ukrainian officials have always hinted that the country would like to increase the lease fees, to bring them in line with the payments that other governments make to house military bases abroad.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2006)