Each of the four registered candidates will have free air time in the national media: First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and Democratic Party leader Andrei Bogdanov.
Half of the free air time has been allocated for debates.
Channel I, Rossia TV, and TV Center, as well as Mayak, Radio Russia and Voice of Russia will grant seven free hours for advertizing clips and TV debates each, although favorite Dmitry Medvedev has refused to take part in TV debates, saying he will continue his daily job.
Medvedev, who has been publicly backed by President Putin and the ruling United Russia party, is the clear front-runner in the election campaign.
Gennady Zyuganov said last Saturday he was not going to quit the race despite media restrictions and alleged intimidation campaign.
Zyuganov said the current situation in the country must be seriously discussed on national television and he would insist on televised debates between the candidates even if Medvedev refuses to participate in them.
The OSCE's election observing arm agreed Friday to send its representatives to a meeting next week with Russia's top election official to discuss timeframes for monitoring Russia's presidential polls.
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which earlier received 70 invitations for its observers to arrive on February 27-28, has requested access to both the March 2 presidential election and the election campaign, insisting that timeframes for the mission be changed.
On Thursday, Curtis Budden, a spokesman for the ODIHR, was quoted by daily Moskovsky Komsomolets as saying that the conditions set by Russia's Central Electoral Commission meant that his organization would be unable to perform its functions fully.
The ODIHR boycotted Russia's parliamentary polls on December 2 citing visa delays and "unprecedented restrictions." The OSCE subsequently declared the polls "not free and fair."
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia will not allow foreign countries to influence its presidential election.
