Beginning in December 2003, Smena is to carry a special Rossia supplement Moscow, December 15, 2003. The Rossia national newspaper launches a project to get its supplements published as insets in leading regional papers across the nation. Its supplement to Smena, one of the most popular papers in St. Petersburg, has become its opening move in this project. A Rossia inset will appear in Smena weekly, on Thursdays, starting on December 4, 2003. The paper’s special section will be prepared in Rossia’s editorial offices in Moscow and carry a pick of materials printed over the previous week for the St. Petersburg readership. The supplement is published on four pages in A3 format, circulation 10,000 copies. “Russian regions are beginning to play a growing role in the Russian media markets,” says Rossia’s General Director Alexei Kononov. “The paper published as a special supplement to leading regional editions will allow local papers to keep their readers better informed about life in Moscow and the Central Federal District and to give national papers a feedback, and besides it will be a chance to advertisers to promote their products and services in Russia’s regional markets.” Smena-like supplements are already inserted in Russian-language editions in London and Warsaw, with a total circulation of 20,000. In 2004, the project will be advanced in Rostov-on-Don, Khabarovsk, Bryansk and several other cities across Russia. *** Rossia is published three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, on 8 to 16 pages in A2 format. The paper is distributed on subscription and at retail in Moscow, the Moscow oblast, and across the Central Federal Superdistrict, with a total circulation of 70,000. Smena comes out five days a week on 12 to 16 pages in A3 format, circulation 12,000. It is distributed on subscription in St. Petersburg, the Leningrad Oblast, and the Northwestern Region. For more details, call (095) 208-9825 or 208-82-82, or e-mail pr@rgz.ru (Public Relations Department).