‘Advertising agencies that deal in outdoor advertising are not going to suffer from the recent changes in the law on banning tobacco ads. The ban on advertising tobacco products outdoors was imposed as early as 2006, so they incurred all the losses back then,’ Accent’s Sales Director Nadezhda Matsenko said to UrBC.

Worries have been raised by the Russian Government’s decision to join the World Health Organization’s anti-tobacco convention. This means any advertising of tobacco and any means of boosting sales or sponsoring tobacco products are fully prohibited. A country that decided to join the convention must comply with these requirements for five years.