Three draft bills on further restrictions of tobacco and alcohol adverts have been submitted to the Ukrainian parliament and are planned for prompt consideration, reports the New Region news agency.
None of the three documents suggests a total ban of tobacco or alcohol ads, but the current regulations are to be considerably toughened. Currently, tobacco advertising is permitted only outdoors and in printed media. The new Ukrainian minister for family and youth affair and sports, Yuri Pavlenko, is reportedly behind the proposed bills. One of the three will undoubtedly get parliamentary approval in the nearest weeks. Experts for tobacco industry, though, say that stricter ad regulations are going to affect minor manufacturers in the first place, and not tobacco giants who have a well-established reputation on the market. (vt)