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Dmitry Kostyukov / AFP - Getty Images, file
Russians, like this Muscovite enjoying some suds at an outdoor pub, will no longer have unfettered access to beer, under a new law that takes effect Jan. 1.
It will be tougher for Russians to cry in their beer in 2013.
Restrictions on when and where beer can be sold go into effect Jan. 1 with a law that declared beer is alcohol, not food.
Under the new rules, beer can only be sold in licensed outlets — not street kiosks, gas stations and bus depots like it has been. Russians won't be able to buy it from shops between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m., and beer commercials are a thing of the past.
The limits are part of a government effort to reduce alcohol abuse in Russian, where one in five male deaths are linked to booze, according to world health experts.
Not everyone is toasting the change, however.
The brewing industry warns that the crackdown could make harder alcohol even more popular.
"It will be tougher if you want to buy a beer on the way home from work, or pop down from your apartment," Isaac Sheps, chairman of the Union of Russian Brewers, told London's Daily Telegraph.
"So you have to stock at home. And stocking beer is more problematic than stocking vodka. It's bulky, it's big and there's no room for it in small homes. It's much easier to buy two bottles of vodka and manage for your instant need for alcohol.
"So it's quite ironic that this attempt to improve health and lower alcoholism could have the opposite effect and cause people to drink more harmful spirits," Sheps said.
New laws ban sex with prisoners, hunting with hounds, more
Vodka is king in Russia. Government statistics show the spirit accounted for almost 50 percent of alcohol sales between January and November, while beer rose a bit to 32 percent. Wine had an anemic 10 percent market share. And champagne accounted for 1 percent of sales.
In the past few years, the Russian government has introduced an array of measures aimed at reducing what then-President Dmitri Medvedev called a "national calamity."
"We are used to smoking, drinking, eating a poor diet and doing little sport and then falling ill, and expect to be operated on or take pills to get better," Nikolai Gerasimenko, deputy head of the lower house of parliament's health committee, told Bloomberg in October.
“That's got to stop.”
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Leave a Comment:
This is not a big deal, the Russian stores, markets, kiosks,and bus depots cannot sell any type of alcohol after 11:00pm and before 8:00am anyway, even before this law so they just stock up for the night if they want a
beer. They have their vodka at home, and beer is for the walk around the city.
This law will not change much, people will still buy beer before they go to work and drink on the bus, or buy beer at a store, and drink it on the bus home. There are many alcohol stores in every city and the beer is usually cheaper there then at a street kiosks, gas stations or bus depots. This law will not change much of anything.
What the government should have is alcohol treatment programs, but they don't. Maybe they do not
have the money.
Think what 230 million dollars could do!!!
Whadda ya mean not food! During a period of my life that is best forgetten, many times my breakfast was can of beer and a cigarette! The combination got my heart started for the day.
Dear Rex. I see you've tried the Beer and tobacco diet, too. Those were the days.
I visited Russia two years ago and one of the most noticeable observations is that all the women were sexy and very fashionable... nowhere did I see any fat, obese buttocks on the gals over there, American women look like crap compared to Russian women and are quite stupid. Russian women are super smart, intelligent, and very independent. The same goes for the men... This article is biased and portrays Russians like depraved alcoholics... not true.
Well, if you did not get a mail order bride then it might be too late. Pukin Putin has that as next on his list to stop after stopping adoptions last week. Maybe he will stop Vodka sales in his efforts to make the world hate him.
I agree !
You gotta love Russia. Where else can you watch a society ease into the 19th Century in today's world.
P.S. Dear Russia, just because Vodka looks like water doesn't mean you should consume it like it is.
I had a Russian room mate for a while .
He was a good guy and never was late on the rent.
He loved to drink the real Vodka from Russia and eat raw fish in the morning.
I could hardly get a beer down at 10 am but I kept up .
love the Russian way.