The Senate at the 36th plenary session on Tuesday approved a new version of the Restricting the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products Bill. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Chamber on 25 October. The bill specifies in detail and significantly expands the list of public places where the use of these products is prohibited.

Note: Tobacco products in the Bill now also include non-smoking products (nasvay, tobacco snus, snuff), products containing nicotine, electronic cigarettes and products that do not contain tobacco and nicotine but are intended for use with tobacco and nicotine consuming devices.

List of places where the use of alcohol and tobacco products, as well as the use of devices for the use of tobacco and nicotine will be prohibited:

• at trade and services facilities, including catering establishments, in clubs, discos;
• in cinemas, theaters, circuses, concert, viewing and exhibition halls and other indoor structures intended for public recreation;
• in computer rooms, Internet cafes, or in other places of entertainment (leisure);
• in museums, information and library institutions and lecture halls;
• in local and long-distance trains, on river vessels, in buses, subway cars, taxis, urban electric transport, on aircraft, as well as other types of public transport;
• in vehicles (including personal vehicles of citizens) in the presence of minors or pregnant women;
• in underground passages, metro stations, at transport stops and places of temporary storage of vehicles;
• in open air places at a distance of less than 15 meters from the entrances to the premises of railway stations, bus stations, airports, river ports, metro stations;
• in fire hazardous places, including gas stations;
• in the buildings of airports, railway and automobile stations, river ports;
• in the buildings of state authorities and administration, business associations, as well as enterprises, institutions and organizations;
• in organizations of the healthcare system, pharmacies, educational organizations, cultural institutions, sports and recreational and sports facilities, sanatorium-resort and medical and social institutions;
• in the workplace, including corridors, elevators, stairs, lobbies, toilets, rest rooms, adjoining premises and other similar places used by the employee during work;
• in premises intended for the provision of housing services, hotel services, services for temporary accommodation and (or) provision of temporary residence;
• in the entrances and elevators of apartment buildings, as well as on children's and sports grounds, including those located in the local area;
• in squares, parks, within the boundaries of territories occupied by beaches.

Alcoholic products are forbidden to be consumed on the streets in general.

It is prohibited to provide premises located in the public places listed above for the consumption of alcohol and tobacco products, as well as the provision of alcohol and tobacco products in public places for the purpose of their consumption in these places.

The above prohibitions do not apply in terms of the consumption of alcoholic products to trade and service facilities where alcoholic products are sold in bottling, as well as to venues for weddings, anniversaries and other celebrations and ceremonies.

The bill is also supplemented with an article on the requirements for specially designated places for the use of tobacco products. They can be organized in the open air outside buildings, structures and other objects, in isolated buildings, structures and objects that do not belong to public places and comply with regulatory documents in the field of technical regulation, equipped with ventilation systems.

At airports, seats can also be created in specially allocated isolated rooms that are equipped with ventilation systems, in areas intended for finding passengers registered for a flight after pre-flight screening, and areas intended for passengers in transit. At the same time, the possibility of monitoring the use of tobacco products should be excluded.

In trains, these places can be organized in non-working vestibules, on river vessels - on the back side of the decks.

In specially designated places for the use of tobacco products, fireproof bins and signs informing about the location of such places, as well as medical warnings, should be installed.

Specially designated smoking areas for hookahs can be organized in isolated buildings, structures and facilities where services are provided exclusively for the provision of hookahs that comply with regulatory documents in the field of technical regulation and are equipped with ventilation systems.

The bill must now be signed by the President. After that, it will take effect within three months, and the provisions regarding the requirements for packaging and labeling of tobacco products and devices for the use of tobacco and nicotine within a year.