Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin’s protection service has demanded that Moscow authorities remove the advertising banners that hang across road routes in the centre of the city, complaining that they ”complicate” the task of protecting the president, Izvestiya newspaper said on Wednesday.
The banners that have rapidly proliferated in recent years in the Russian capital, ”greatly complicate the situation as regards transport routes and make it difficult to guarantee the security” of the president, Izvestiya said, citing unnamed sources in the Federal Protection Service that guards Putin.
City authorities have been given until July 1 to carry out the order, the newspaper said.
But the city ”is not in a hurry” to carry out the order, Izvestiya said, as the banners earn it the equivalent of over a million dollars annually.
The tight security surrounding Putin’s daily journeys to and from work is a common cause of complaint among Moscow’s drivers, as the roads he uses are blocked for around 15 minutes before the presidential motorcade drives past.
Contacted by AFP, that News Outdoor Russia company, which specialises in street advertising, said it had heard nothing of the order. – Sapa-AFP