Russian parliament to debate raising of smoking age

Reports that Russia could raise the smoking age to 21 from 18 have hit the shares of some big tobacco companies.

London-listed cigarette makers Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco have so far remained on the up, while US-listed Philip Morris fell more than 2.4% in pre-market trading.

Reports had emerged from Russia's Tass newswire that a Russian senator, Anton Belyakov, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, had made the proposal in the state Duma.

For both British American and Imperial, Russia is a sizeable market with the Eastern European market.

Last year, Imperial continued its trend of net revenue growth in Russia, where it benefitted from strong pricing and consumer demand in the value segment.