Is smoking banned in Moscow cafes, restaurants and bars? Are there places where you can smoke?

Question

I was wondering about this because I don't smoke myself and somehow I've found myself without that knowledge when someone asked me. I've looked through a bunch of news posts and they have unclear information without sources, and because there have been so many posts over the years it's probably easier to look up the related laws instead.

Does anyone know or have links to law book pages about where smoking is allowed in public cafes, restaurants and bars?

Also, does the smoking ban apply only to Moscow or to the rest of Russia also?

Answer 1

There's a huge list of places where smoking is currently banned:

• public transport, local and nationwide, train stations, 15m area around local transport stations
• medical and rehab institutions
• sport venues
• public offices
• shops
• restaurants, bars, cafes
• various public places: educational facilities, entertainment centres etc.

According to Wikipedia, all the law's regulations are in effect as of 2017-01-01.

And yes, it's a Federal law, so it should be effective across the whole country.

Answer 2

There is a law that prohibits smoking "в помещениях, предназначенных для предоставления ... услуг ... общественного питания". This prohibits smoking on indoor areas of restaurants, bars, etc ("помещение" means indoor premises). Smoking on outdoor terraces of restaurants is generally not prohibited, and many restaurants allow it (same for cafes, bars, etc.)

There is also a big list of other places where smoking is prohibited. The list is detailed and has a lot of unobvious exceptions (for example, it is prohibited to smoke on train stations platforms, but only on those that are used by short-distance trains only).

As a rule of thumb you may assume that smoking indoor in public places is prohibited (unless there is a designated room clearly marked as such), and smoking outdoor is allowed (unless there is a clear no smoking sign). However, this rule is not exact.

The law is the same for all Russia.

Answer 3

Indoor smoking should be banned almost everywhere, including cafes, restaurants and bars. It should also apply to outdoor terraces of said venues.

It should apply everywhere in the country, maybe it will be milder as you go further from Moscow (people will just look the other way) but I can't recommend abusing it.

You can usually smoke on the street (with exceptions, such as in proximity of schools).

Answer 4

Bottom line: It's prohibited in cafes indoors but not outdoors -- unless it's also within a protected territory of another kind.

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According to Article 12, part 1, point 6 of the Federal Law № 15-FZ of 23.02.2013 (current edition as of this writing), smoking is prohibited, among other things:

6) в помещениях, предназначенных для предоставления бытовых услуг, услуг торговли, общественного питания, помещениях рынков, в нестационарных торговых объектах;

In indoor spaces intended for consumer services, vending, food services, marketplaces, nonstationary trading facilities;

There are restrictions for outdoor areas, too, but they have nothing to do with cafes proper:

1) на территориях и в помещениях, предназначенных для оказания образовательных услуг, услуг учреждениями культуры и учреждениями органов по делам молодёжи, услуг в области физической культуры и спорта;

In outdoor and indoor areas intended for educational services, cultural facilities, youth authority facilities, sports and physical culture facilities;

2) на территориях и в помещениях, предназначенных для оказания медицинских, реабилитационных и санаторно-курортных услуг;

In outdoor and indoor areas intended for medical, rehabilitational and health resort services;

<...>

4) <...> в местах на открытом воздухе на расстоянии менее чем пятнадцать метров от входов в помещения железнодорожных вокзалов, автовокзалов, аэропортов, морских портов, речных портов, станций метрополитенов <...>;

... in outdoor areas within 15 meters from entrances to railway terminals, bus terminals, airports, river and sea ports, metro stations ...

<...>

11) на детских площадках и в границах территорий, занятых пляжами;

In playgrounds and beach territories;

12) на пассажирских платформах, используемых исключительно для посадки в поезда, высадки из поездов пассажиров при их перевозках в пригородном сообщении;

On passenger platforms used exclusively for suburban railway services;

13) на автозаправочных станциях.

On petrol stations.

Part 2 of the same article allows to override restrictions for indoor spaces, in dedicated ventilated areas, but only for long voyage vessels and apartment blocks.

Rospotrebnadzor tried to restrict smoking in outdoor areas of cafes but was ultimately debunked by courts, neither did legislators support this initiative.