The authorities of Moscow and St. Petersburg may receive the right to independently consider violations of outdoor advertising

A bill has been submitted to the State Duma that could give the authorities of Moscow and St. Petersburg the right to independently consider violations of the placement of outdoor advertising. Currently, such disputes go through arbitration courts, which cannot cope with the workload due to the large number of cases. In a number of other regions in the fall, they also took up the issue of outdoor advertising – in particular, its appearance and the right of the authorities to draw up protocols on illegal placement. Market participants fear that strengthening the role of local authorities could lead to abuses by officials.

Kommersant got acquainted with the bill, which proposes to supplement the mechanism for regulating the placement of outdoor advertising in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The document was submitted to the State Duma on October 11 by senators Andrei Kutepov and Ivan Evstifeev, as well as State Duma deputy Ivan Abramov. The project, in particular, proposes to give local governments (city district governments) the right to make pre-trial decisions on the illegality of placing advertisements on streets and buildings. Amendments are made to Art. 23.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences.

Now such cases are being considered in arbitration courts, which, judging by the explanatory note, overloads the courts and requires a significant increase in their staff. In St. Petersburg in 2021, more than 15 thousand orders were issued to dismantle advertising structures installed and operated without permission, of which only half of the owners were found, of which administrative penalties were imposed in only 70 cases, the document says.

At the same time, local government bodies already approve layouts for the placement of advertising structures, issue and cancel permits for their installation and operation, carry out forced dismantling in case of failure to comply with court orders, etc., as listed in the explanatory note. Thus, local government bodies in Moscow and St. Petersburg directly detect signs of violations.

A representative of Andrei Kutepov clarified to Kommersant that the bill should not change the regulatory framework for other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, since the problem of countering violations in the installation of advertising structures “is most acute in large metropolitan areas.”

However, similar questions are also being raised in other regions. For example, deputies of the Saratov Regional Duma in early September proposed taking away from municipal authorities the right to determine the appearance of posted images (see Kommersant on September 4). In September, the Kostroma Regional Duma introduced a bill to the State Duma on transferring the right to draw up protocols for placing outdoor advertising without permits from the police to local authorities. The latest initiative also affects Moscow.

The Russian outdoor advertising market in the first half of the year grew by 25-30%, to 22-23 billion rubles, Moscow and the Moscow region account for about 50% of all outdoor advertising budgets, St. Petersburg – 11-12%, and other regions – 38–39%. The leader in procurement is Yandex, and the top 10 includes “Tasty – period,” MUZ-TV and Fonbet (see “Kommersant” on August 4).

The initiative reduces the likelihood of advertising structures being used without properly executed documents, which makes the market more transparent, according to Russ Group of Companies. However, NMI Group emphasizes that if powers are completely transferred to local authorities, then they will have the need to expand their staff. Igronik, ADV and Okkam did not answer Kommersant.

Legislators justify their initiative with the desire to reduce the workload on arbitration judges, but the current mechanism is necessary for business, since in practice such cases do not always end in favor of government agencies, notes Ilya Notkin, founder and CEO of the advertising agency Paradigma. Thus, businesses have the opportunity to defend their positions, he emphasizes: “If this bill is adopted, then in every controversial case the official will make decisions alone in the absence of any checks and balances.” Mr. Notkin believes that the new order may become “an environment for abuse of powers by local authorities.”

Tatiana Isakova