ELECTION CAMPAIGN TOO COSTLY FOR MANY CANDIDATES.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission Aleksandr Ivanchenko said that all electoral coalitions and blocs are entitled to an equal amount of free air time on national television and radio starting from November 15. He said that in addition to that entitlement, each party or bloc could buy additional time. But Duma social policy committee chairman Sergei Kalashnikov said that the Russian television companies’ fees for air time, starting at $30,000 a minute, make it impossible for many deputies to take part in the campaign. Kalashnikov complained that the mass media had turned themselves into "street muggers" who were attempting to rob deputies, and that the minimal cost for a single deputy’s race could exceed $200,000. (9)

Boris Berezovsky Joins George Soros.