The regional branch of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) fined a company in the southern city of Samara for a racist advertisement, the Volga News local news website reported Monday.
A banner advertising water heaters depicted U.S. President Barack Obama and carried a caption reading: "Shame on unwashed chimney sweeps!"
"Advertisements aren't allowed to contain swear words or indecent or offensive images, comparisons or phrases, including those referring to gender, race, nationality, profession, social category, age or language," the regional branch of FAS said in an online statement.
An unidentified representative of the firm was fined 10,000 rubles ($150), Volga News reported.
The firm's founder, Konstantin Fedotov, said the decision made by FAS was politically motivated and claimed the FAS leadership was sympathizing with Obama, "[thanks to] whose efforts our country is subject to international sanctions and has been driven to the epicenter of the economic crisis," the Newsru.com news website reported.
Fedotov promised to appeal the decision, the report said.
It is not the first time offensive advertisements featuring Obama have appeared on the streets of a Russian city, Newsru.com reported. In the summer of 2014, several offensive banners appeared in a town in the Perm region.
One depicted a sheep wearing a T-shirt with the U.S. flag on it and said "Baran Abama [in Russian 'baran' means 'sheep'], keep your hoofs off Ukraine." The other one showed Obama looking greedily at a banana with the word "Ukraine" written on it, with the caption reading "Don't choke [on it]!"
