Vasiliy Terevtsov, director of the Russian association of tobacco manufacturers, Tabakprom, has announced his resignation.

Terevtsov explained that he had made the decision for the sake of the guild’s viability and considering the interests of all member companies, reports the business daily Kommersant. He is to be succeeded by Vadim Jelnin, general director of the national Association of advertisers. According to a Kommersant source in Tabakprom, the reason for the abrupt change in the association’s management was the split between its chief and the association’s most powerful member company, BAT, which proposed Jelnin for the directorship. (vt)