Moscow - Russian deputies are to consider a law that would turn up the heat on advertising by witches and healers enjoying a meteoric growth in demand, the Gazeta daily reported on Friday.

The law, which is to have its first reading in parliament's lower chamber shortly, would allow only officially registered healers to advertise in newspapers, Gazeta reported.



The paper quoted o­ne of the bill's authors, parliamentarian Vladimir Medinsky, as casting scorn o­n the colourful small advertisements that brim from the pages of Russia's popular press.

The bill's introduction argues that "citizens who believe in the adverts of magicians and witches often become the victims of commonplace fraud," the paper said.

Russian papers are full of advertisements by fortune tellers and purveyors of potions, lotions, curses and charms, often aimed at helping someone catch a mate or take revenge when a relationship has gone wrong.

Typically, the Tvoi Den newspaper ran an advert o­n Friday by self-styled magician Tatyana Fyodorova offering "powerful charms" to help clients earn money, get a husband back and cure alcoholism.

Gazeta estimated the market was worth 30-40 million dollars (19-25 million euros) a year, with the advertising market worth five million dollars in the first half of 2007.

Quoting health ministry statistics, the paper said about 100,000 people worked as healers in Russia, almost all of them unregistered.