Russia fixes minimum vodka price

A.V.

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Russia introduced on Friday a minimum price of vodka in an effort to fight counterfeit alcohol production in the country.

From January 1, any 0.5l vodka bottle selling at below 89 rubles (almost $3) will be outlawed.
The price ban is one of the first government steps toward regulating the domestic alcohol market.

First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said earlier other measures in the sphere would be accomplished by July 1, 2010. Theses include the licensing of alcohol supplies, the introduction of a unified excise duty on alcohol, and tougher responsibility for the production and marketing of fake vodka.

Experts said the minimum vodka price and tougher punishment for failure to comply with it would enable controlling bodies to take action against wrongdoing on the part of retailers all across Russia.

However, representatives of large food chains said the new measure was unlikely to affect their sales. They also said they could substitute more expensive vodka with other spirits, including wine and beer.

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced prohibition in the Soviet Union in May 1985 in an attempt to put a halt to the rampant alcoholism that was already taking its toll on the nation's economy and health system. His efforts to steer the Soviets to abstinence were ultimately unsuccessful, however, and the illicit production of moonshine - 'samogon' - rocketed, not to mention a sudden rise in sales of medicinal and industrial spirit. The never-popular policy of prohibition was later quietly dropped.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, modern Russia quickly found itself engulfed in an epidemic of alcoholism of catastrophic proportions, as what was already a serious social and health problem transformed into something on an apocalyptic scale.

Alcohol consumption in Russia is more than double the critical level set by the World Health Organization.

Russia fixes minimum vodka price | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire
 

thakur_ritesh

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it was stunning to know a russian consumes average 18l of alcohol every year and that 50% of the deaths in russia between 15-55years of age are related to alcoholism. just yesterday saw a news report where they covered this young lad who has now quit drinking alcohol but he had started drinking it at the very tender age of 3years!

i guess russian government needs to do a lot more.
 

jakojako777

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it was stunning to know a russian consumes average 18l of alcohol every year and that 50% of the deaths in russia between 15-55years of age are related to alcoholism. just yesterday saw a news report where they covered this young lad who has now quit drinking alcohol but he had started drinking it at the very tender age of 3years!

i guess russian government needs to do a lot more.
They can't do "more" unless they want to shoot their own feet.
It looks that alcohol is even deeper rooted than corruption in Russia.
Actually that might be electoral move to lover the prices of Vodka before the voting, to gain on popularity easily.

Here is what happens when Medvedev and Putin drink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlW-8fJwOmU&feature=player_embedded&aia=true
 

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