Outdoor advertizing in Moscow is getting out of hand and needs regulation, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Tuesday.
"The city is overloaded with advertizing; it damages the capital's architectural and artistic image," he said.
"The situation should be thoroughly analyzed."
Over the past few years the amount of advertizing in the city has grown by 50%, while there are "no clear rules of the game" for ad operators, Sobyanin said.
"Unknown companies win tenders for thousands of advertizing spots. Commercial ads are displayed under the guise of social advertizing free of charge," he said.
Moscow's chief architect, Alexander Kuzmin, proposed a moratorium on outdoor advertizing through 2012. He also proposed establishing ad-free zones in the capital, primarily in the historical part of the city, near the Kremlin and major sights.
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti)
