Russian tobacco and alcohol advertising ban under review

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Russian tobacco and alcohol advertising ban: Russia’s Ministry  of Communications is ready to put its support behind a move to lift the ban on tobacco and alcohol advertising in the print media. According to the Ministry, liberalization of the advertising market would both help publishers cope with the current economic  crisis, and sales in  Russian alcohol brands. Overall  volumes of advertising sales in Russian newspapers and magazines are predicted to drop by 10% for the year at a cost to publishers of around RUB 2bn. A blanket ban  ban on advertising alcohol advertising was introduced last winter and on tobacco six months later.  This August, the rules were relaxed  to allow beer adverts to appear in print and in broadcast coverage during the run up to the 2018 World Cup. Kommersant