Russian publishers, the media, and government interference in 2002: A report to the slavic librarians' workshop, university of illinois, july 2003

During 2002 the Russian publishing industry and news media were under intense scrutiny, sometimes verging on assault, by government and pro-government groups. A new 20% value-added tax was an additional blow, although it was reduced to 10% in the middle of the year. Russian publishing appears to be healthy in spite of those problems, although statistics from the Russian Book Chamber (Rossiiskaia knizhnaia palata) are notoriously unreliable. Statistics on books carried by Russian Press Service give an approximate picture of scholarly book publishing.