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                                                                  EXHIBIT 99.1
                                 PRESS RELEASE

         BROOKE GROUP AND NEW VALLEY TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATE IN RUSSIA
                               WITH APOLLO FUND


         MIAMI, FL, March 2, 1998 -- Brooke Group Ltd. (NYSE: BGL) and New
Valley Corporation (OTC: NVYL) announced today that New Valley has entered into
a joint venture with Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund III, L.P. to form
Western Realty Development LLC to develop real estate in Moscow, Russia.
Pursuant to the agreement, the contributions of New Valley to Western Realty
will include the assets of its BrookeMil Ltd. subsidiary, a real estate
development company in Russia that owns a major office project in Moscow.
Apollo will contribute up to $58 million to Western Realty.

         BrookeMil is currently developing a three-phase complex on 2.2 acres 
of land in downtown Moscow. The first phase of the project, Ducat Place I, a
46,500 sq. ft. Class-A office building, was successfully built and leased in
1993 and sold to a tenant in April, 1997. In 1997, BrookeMil completed
construction of Ducat Place II, a premier 150,000 sq. ft. office building.
Ducat Place II has been leased to a number of leading international companies,
including Motorola, Conoco, Lukoil-Arco and Morgan Stanley. The third phase,
Ducat Place III, is planned as a 350,000 sq. ft. mixed-use complex, with
construction set to begin in 1999.

         "The formation of Western Realty with Apollo will allow us to
significantly expand our real estate business in Russia, where we are already
very well positioned," said Bennett S. LeBow, Chairman and CEO of Brooke Group
and New Valley. LeBow added, "Ducat Place is the leading western-style
commercial complex in Moscow, with a host of blue-chip tenants, and we believe
that Ducat Place III has even greater potential."

         "We are pleased to be working with New Valley - which has developed
some of Moscow's finest existing properties - and we are confident that we will
find many exciting future opportunities together," said Lee Neibart, a
principal of Apollo.

         Western Realty will seek to make additional real estate and other
investments in Russia. New Valley and Apollo have agreed to invest, through
Western Realty or another entity, up to $25 million in the aggregate for the
potential development of a real estate project in Moscow. In addition, Western
Realty has agreed to invest $20 million for a 30% interest in a company
organized by Brooke (Overseas) Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brooke Group,
which will, among other things, acquire an interest in 

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an industrial site and manufacturing facility being constructed on the
outskirts of Moscow by a subsidiary of Brooke (Overseas) Ltd.

         Brooke Group is a holding company which owns Liggett Group Inc. and
Liggett-Ducat Ltd. and holds 42% of the voting power in New Valley. New Valley
is principally engaged in investment banking and brokerage through Ladenburg,
Thalmann & Co. Inc., in real estate development in Russia through BrookeMil,
and in ownership and management of commercial real estate through its New
Valley Realty division.

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