Warsaw - Newspapers and tabloids in Poland faced loses of up to 40 per cent in March compared to a year ago amid shrinking sales and advertising revenues, Polish Radio reported Monday.

The daily Dziennik was hit hardest with a 40-per-cent decline in sales. Rzeczpospolita and Wyborcza - the country's other top dailies - saw sales slump by 12 and 11 per cent respectively.

The slowdown came amid cutbacks that reduced Poland's advertising market by some 37 million euros in the first quarter of 2009, Polish Radio said, in a sign that recession has arrived in the former Soviet bloc.

Polish tabloids such as Super Express and Fakt suffered less, and reported falls of between 4.5 and 7.7 per cent.

Gazeta Prawna, a financial daily, reported Internet advertising were still up, but increasing at a slower rate. (dpa)