MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. The Russian authorities are and will protect domestic producers, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters commenting on the appeal of the management of the Baltika brewing company to the Kremlin with a request to help protect its brands in friendly countries.

"Naturally, domestic producers have been protected and will be protected to the end," he said.

Peskov refused to comment on the appeal itself. "We never make public comments on official correspondence," he said. The Kremlin spokesman, on the other hand, stressed that "this topic (protection of Russian brands - TASS) exists, has appeared repeatedly, and the president is well aware of this topic."