From time to time, Ukrainian officials remember roadside advertising. As with MAFs, our streets are full of it. True, as with kiosks, it never goes beyond talk. And if it does, the familiar kiosks and billboards disappear, and new ones grow in their place.
The government committee on infrastructure development has supported a draft law on banning the placement of advertising media within the right-of-way of public roads. As stated in the explanatory note to the draft law, currently more than 6,000 advertising media are placed along public roads, with 75% of them installed in violation of current regulations. According to a survey conducted by the Department of the State Automobile Inspection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, 82% of respondents admitted that outdoor advertising distracts them from driving.
Does this mean that advertising will disappear from the roads? First, the discussed changes apply only to public roads outside populated areas. Second, legally installed billboards will be dismantled only after the expiration of permit documents. And the concept of "legality" in our country is often vague...
