The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, will soon pass a law banning the advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information, BYT-Batkivschyna MP Andriy Shevchenko has forecasted.
"The anti-tobacco bill should become a law as soon as possible," he said during a panel discussion in Kyiv on Feb.14.
In turn, Regions Party MP Yuriy Miroshnychenko, who is one of initiators of the document, said: "A number of people’s deputies will adhere to the principle of striving to stop any promotion of smoking in Ukraine… our intention is a principled and consistent one." He also said that passing the bill at second reading would be difficult.
MP Shevchenko said that 303 MPs voted for the document in first reading and after that some 60 amendments were registered. The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information will consider these amendments during its meeting on Wednesday. In addition, the people’s deputy said that he was planning to form a working group in charge of preparing the document for second reading.
According to Shevchenko, the final version of the bill should not affect journalists’ rights to report on the tobacco market.
