Owner of billboards who removed Nyaklyayeu poster: this is black PR

The advertising agency involved in the scandal caused by the removal of Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu and Yury Zhyhimont billboards has refused to install the other two Symbal.by posters.

Special advertisements of the shop Symbal.by appeared in the centre of Minsk last week. The photos of poet and oppositionist Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu and TV presenter Yury Zhyhimont were used in them. The shop also prepared similar posters showing gymnast Militina Stanyuta and rock musician Lyavon Volski.

The billboards with Nyaklyayeu and Zhyhimont were removed ‘after a phone call from a higher authority’ a few hours after their installation. 

The administration of the advertising agency did not want to assume the responsibility for the installation of the billboards and decided to refuse from all the four posters, founder of Symbal.by Pavel Belavus said.

The agency rents billboards from another owner who was against Symbal.by advertisements. “They do not want to install our posters because they rent billboards from another organization. Representatives of that company phoned them and said that they were against our posters. Also, some other people had phoned that company and told them to remove our advertisements,” Belavus explained.

The company Apex is the owner of the billboards, tut.by journalists found out. The senior deputy director of the company has refused to comment on the situation: “Cover this topic without our comments. This is not a precedent, this is black PR promoted by journalists. It is the two legal organizations’ business that has nothing to do without journalists.”

He has also refuted any political implication in the incident.