Russian govt to subsidize advertising Russian brands, to allocate 500 mln rubles in pilot mode in 2022

MOSCOW. June 7 (Interfax) - The Russian government has approved allocating subsidies in order to support advertising Russian brands, primarily on television, and it plans to distribute 500 million rubles for this purpose in a pilot mode in 2022, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said at the Russian Retail Week forum.

Manturov noted that Russian consumers have a fixed belief that "foreign is better", consequently, even goods produced in Russia are sold under brands in foreign languages.

"I think that this is just our scourge, starting with the names everywhere and all around being in foreign languages, forgetting about Russian, and on products, and on goods. I ask [a Russian manufacturer], 'Why is this not in Russian?' [And the answer is] 'Listen, they do not buy it: If you write it in a foreign language, then they buy it; but if you write it in Russian, they do not buy it'," Manturov lamented.

"The product is made in Russia, just no one knows about this. In order to be known, the government has decided for the first time this year to allocate 500 million rubles, in a pilot mode, in order to promote Russian brands in the media, primarily on television," Manturov said.