In Europe the leading ban is smoking ban in public places.  Smoking was banned only for to promote a healthier lifestyle in a country where  smoking is very popular and the population is in decline. Russia also dreams about a healthy  life style.

In Russia  there are few non-smoking areas but instead of this there are many restaurants  which continue to be full of cigarette smoke.

In Russia  smokers smoke even in public places such as airports, railway stations, and underground railway. For example in airports they congregate in  overcrowded smoking zones or male toilets to puff on cigarettes beside the  urinals before boarding their flights, but in railway stations smokers smoke at  the back of railway carriages.

Researchers  said that in Russia  around 40 percent of all adults smoke.

Tatyana Golikova, the Health Minister from the Russia, introduced a new  legislation that banned smoking in bars, nightclubs, restaurants and casinos  with an area of under 50 sq meters (538 sq feet), about a quarter of the size  of a tennis court, followed two years later by a total ban on smoking in public  places.

Nightclub owners in Moscow  were not thrilled at the prospect of a smoking ban.

"In New York, only 20 percent of the  nightclubs survived after the smoking ban was introduced even though the  climate allows people to go outside and smoke," said the owner of two of Moscow's best-known  nightclubs, Georgy Petrushin.

In Russia  cigarettes cost about $1 a packet.

But the government wants to promote a healthier lifestyle in Russia because a  the average life expectancy for men is under 60, far lower than in Western  Europe, and the population is declining also.