Russia stops parties using billboards in elections

Moscow, June 15 (Reuters) - Russian political parties will not be allowed to use billboards for election campaigning, a move which is set to impact expensive political advertising by pro-Kremlin parties who criticised the decision.

Today officials from the federal anti-monopoly service said using billboards for political purposes contravenes an advertising law, which came into force in July 2006.

''We found this glitch in the law that only advertising can be used on advertising constructions and that under the law advertising is understood as everything but political advertising,'' a spokeswoman said.

''We are obliged to enforce the law on advertising, though we did not write it ourselves,'' she said.

The Kremlin is eager to ensure a calm transition when President Vladimir Putin, Russia's most popular politician, leaves office in 2008 after two four-year terms in power.

A new parliament will be elected in December and a new president will be elected in March. During elections, major parties traditionally spend millions of dollars on billboard advertising in major cities.

''A political decision has been made,'' a Kremlin source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The source indicated the move could be directed against expensive billboard campaigning by United Russia, the biggest pro-Kremlin party.

ELECTION POLITICS The implications of last year's law came to light after the central electoral commission was swamped with questions about the rules from local electoral officials.

The commission then asked the federal anti-monopoly service, which answers to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, to look into the law.

''We found this technical mistake in the law,'' the service's spokeswoman said. ''We of course cannot amend this as it is the job of lawmakers.'' A source told Interfax the electoral commission did not agree with the anti-monopoly service over the decision.

Under Putin, the Kremlin has boosted its control over key television stations and newspapers where reporters say coverage of opposition parties is discouraged.

Denis Bilunov, an aide to Putin opponent Garry Kasparov, said the rules would have little impact on the opposition, which already finds it hard to place political advertisements.

''This will not have much influence for us as it is practically impossible for us to use billboards even if have the funds because those responsible for these billboards are very cautious of orders from us,'' Bilunov told Reuters.

He said the decision could be part of a struggle between pro-Kremlin parties such as United Russia and Fair Russia.

''This is more to do with competition with the parties inside the system, Fair Russia and others,'' Bilunov said.

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