Ideological department didn’t permit “Nasha Niva” advertising in metro

The ideological department of the Minsk city executive committee refused “Nasha Niva” newspaper to use information posters in metro trains.

“Nasha Niva” applied for advertising in metro yet in December, after the edition had been allowed to be sold in Sayuzdruk news stalls. The application has been considered for a month. The editor’s office got an answer on telephone: no free space, nn.by reports.

Metro advertising service had no objections, but they needed an agreement of the ideological department of the city executive committee.

“We showed a sample – modest A4 paper, as advertising in metro is rather expensive. We have phoned, again and again. Finally, after a month, Eduard Tamilchyk, head of the department of mass events, said ... there was no advertising space for January and offered to return to this question in February. We phoned to the metro advertising service. They said they had advertising space. Everyone can assure they had it – some trains do not have ads. Crisis,” “Nasha Niva” journalist Barys Tumar writes.

In this connection, the Belarusians have four rhetorical questions, the journalist notes:

1) Can the country be considered business-friendly if every advertisement must be approved by the ideological department?

2) How many people are in the staff of ideology departments, if their number is enough to read every advertisement? Which loan will be a source of their financing in 2009 – a Russian one or an IMF’s one?

3) What reputation can an ideologist have if he or she can’t do without lies, even when refusing “destructive” in his opinion edition the right for advertising?

4) Can the country be considered fair if its laws are applied for “ours” and for “the rest”?