Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the Cabinet have sent an anti-smoking bill to the Duma that calls for bans on smoking in public, displays of tobacco products and hiking the excise duty, RIA Novosti reported.

Smoking in public places would be banned from 2015, according to a report by Itar-Tass. The bill foresees introduction of controls in stages from next July through January, 2016, the news agency reported.
“A decision must be taken, we need to move in a civilized direction, as the whole world is doing,” RIA Novosti cited Medvedev saying after the Cabinet meeting. (pi)