According to the results of last year, 2,970 media outlets were shut down, more than half of which were print publications.

Axar.az reports that this was stated by Yuri Pogorely, Deputy General Director of the Interfax news agency.

"The physical infrastructure for media operations continues to shrink. Print media is in an extremely dire state, both in terms of distribution and physical production," noted Mr. Pogorely.

He added that most of the new print media consists of scientific and specialized journals, as well as entertainment publications. Among the newly registered online media are websites of government agencies that have been operating for a long time but have now received official status.

According to the Union of Printing Industry Enterprises, the number of newsstands in Russia has decreased fourfold over the past 20 years. Factors contributing to the decline in newsstands include rising rental costs and regional administrations' refusals to renew contracts with distributors.