MOSCOW (AP) - Russia refused to sign a new four-year player agreement regulating transfers from Europe to the NHL on Wednesday.

All other International Ice Hockey Federation member associations ratified the agreement by the Tuesday midnight deadline.
Russian federation president Vladislav Tretiak said Russian clubs had agreed "almost unanimously" not to sign, because they want to NHL to honor their league contracts.

"We are not against the NHL. We recognize the NHL as the best league and a lot of players would like to play in the NHL," Tretiak said. "We have no problem with that but we want them to respect out internal contracts in Russia."

NHL clubs are forbidden from acquiring players already under contract in Russia, but can take free agents without paying compensation.

However, current labor laws in Russia allow players like Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin to give their club just two weeks notice to terminate a contract, freeing them to sign with an NHL team.

But Tretiak said a new amendment to the law will soon be implemented, preventing hockey players from "escaping in two weeks."

Russian clubs also say the minimum amount of compensation the NHL pays to European federations to sign players is too low.

"US$200,000 for players like (Alex) Ovechkin and Malkin is not enough," Tretiak said, adding that a player like Ovechkin was worth "no less than US$1 million."

IIHF president Rene Fasel said that during the negotiating process, the IIHF suggested tiered transfer payments based on the quality of the player - using round of draft, age, and national team games played as a measuring rod - but could not find a majority in favor of the idea.

The IIHF and the NHL have had agreements in place for the last 12 years. The most recent two-year agreement did not include Russia.

The new agreement runs until the 2010-11 season, and includes an annual development fee paid by the NHL to the IIHF. The money will then be distributed by the IIHF to the national associations and their clubs.

The agreement also includes a deadline for NHL clubs to sign players during the offseason.

About 30 percent of the NHL's players come from Europe. The NHL annually signs 45-to-60 players from European countries.

The lack of an agreement has resulted in several court cases on both sides of the Atlantic.