The State Duma approved on Friday in the first reading a bill lifting the ban on advertising on pay TV channels that show only Russian content, Interfax reported .

The bill provides that TV channels will be allowed to sell advertising on pay TV channels when they “distribute exclusively national media products,” the text of the bill says.

“National media products” means content created by citizens of Russia or organizations registered in Russia, as well as content created by order of Russian media, in Russian or other languages of the peoples of the country. Foreign investment in “national” content should not exceed 50% of its value.

The author of the bill, State Duma deputy and co-chairman of the central headquarters of the All-Russian Popular Front, Olga Timofeeva, assured that the bill could be adopted in all three readings by the end of January 2015.

In mid-January 2015, the National Association of Television and Radio Broadcasters, which includes Channel One, TNT, NTV, TVC and STS Media, proposed repealing the July 2014 law banning advertising on paid channels. According to the head of the association, Eduard Sagalayev, a corresponding appeal was sent to the State Duma in November.

The law banning advertising on pay TV channels was adopted in July 2014. In accordance with the law, the distribution of advertising is not allowed in television programs, television broadcasts on television channels, access to which is carried out exclusively on a paid basis and (or) using decoding technical devices. The exception is the all-Russian mandatory public television channels.

The law came into force on January 1, 2015.

The State Duma abolished the ban on advertising on paid channels in the first reading