21 Jul 2011 Russia gets tougher on its drinking culture
After much debate, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has signed off a bill that turns an apparently self-evident truth into law – that beer is an alcoholic drink. The new bill will bring regulations for the drink in Russia into line with those for spirits, banning sales in street kiosks as well as all beer advertising.
Beer and other alcoholic drinks containing less than 10 per cent alcohol by volume are technically classed as foodstuffs, and can be purchased round the clock from street kiosks. Beer adverts have been prevalent on the metro system, and it is a frequent sight to see groups of men enjoying a beer or a canned gin and tonic drink at all hours of the day at railway stations and outside street kiosks.
There was little culture of beer drinking in the Soviet Union, but in recent years, more and more Russians have switched to it, and international brewers have been quick to cash in. Over the past decade, vodka consumption has dropped by around a third, while beer consumption has rocketed by more than 40 per cent.
Russia’s rulers have tried to battle the country’s love for vodka for years, with mixed results, but in recent years it has become apparent that the image of beer as a harmless alternative to vodka was flawed. Last year the government tripled the tax on beer, and the new law also bans sales of alcohol on all forms of transport and at stations and airports, and bans advertising on television, radio and billboards……