MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Russia needs a targeted policy of promoting local brands, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"I believe that we need a targeted broad promotion program for local brands at all levels, including media, particularly state-owned media, social networks, and new media. Of course, each region should have its own promotional strategies for local companies," he said. According to Putin, the support of the regions plays a key role in this.

He noted that large foreign companies forced Russian competitors out of the markets through aggressive advertising and subsidies, but the World Trade Organization (WTO) usually ignores it. "I've already stated that major foreign companies have largely displaced our local products for a long time, and not always due to quality and price, but more to aggressive advertising and, of course, subsidizing those things that they made at home - and subsidies there are plain insane in some sectors. And, in general, the WTO either does not notice or notices but cannot act. Because our international partners, particularly in Europe, have figured out how to get around all these WTO regulations," he said.

At the same time, he noted that foreign companies invested huge resources in advertising, and some of them even "turned their withdrawal from Russia into a high-profile PR campaign." "But I don't know whether a PR stunt would help them in their business or not, I doubt it," Putin added.