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Russia, St. Petersburg: Russians will only be able to drink beer in bars, cafes and restaurants, according to a new law. Russia's Committee of Economic policies and Business of the State Duma approved amendments to the second reading of the legislation entitled, "About limiting retail sale and consumption of beer and related drinks in public places", A&G Information Services revealed on October 8.

Deputies propose to forbid consumption of beer in all places that aren't especially equipped for that. In other words, after this law takes effect, people will be able to drink beer in bars, cafes and restaurants only.

It is the second strongest blow to this domain after limits of beer advertisement came into effect, because 30% of beer is bought for "immediate consumption".

In the last five years, beer consumption has doubled in Russia, making it the fastest-growing beer market in the world after China. Sales have risen by 14 per cent this year alone. From next to none 10 years ago, there are now more than 100 locally produced brands of beer. And European brewing giants — including Carlsberg, Heineken and Belgian-based Interbrew — have stepped up marketing in Russia to compensate for falling European sales.

"Our society is under threat from such high levels of alcohol consumption and abuse," says Nikolai Gerasimenko, deputy head of the health committee of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. "You always see teenagers drinking beer and we have to deal with this. School kids start on beer and before long are progressing to vodka." Most Russians consider beer little more than a soft drink, suitable for drinking at any time of the day, including on the way to work in the morning. Beer can be bought on any street corner and crowds of teenagers regularly gather in city parks to down a few bottles after school.

Brewers argue that increased sales represent a positive shift in Russians' drinking habits. "It's much better to drink beer in moderation than vodka," says Vyacheslav Mamontov, head of the Russian Brewers' Union.

"If you take all the alcohol consumed in Russia every year, 70 per cent is vodka and 20 per cent is beer. In Europe, spirits, wine and beer each make up about a third of consumption. "Obviously, it's better for the health of the nation if we try to recreate this model."

However, many health experts worry that, rather than replacing vodka, beer is supplementing it. If drinking habits actually were changing, they say, vodka sales would be dropping as beer sales rose. Instead, hard liquor sales rose by more than 4 per cent last year, according to the state statistics committee."What we are seeing is overall growth in the amount of alcohol being consumed, not more beer at the expense of vodka," says Vladimir Nuzhny of the health ministry's National Research Centre on Addictions. "Alcoholism is a very serious problem in Russia and, frighteningly, experts are registering more and more cases of teenage alcoholism, not from drinking vodka but from beer." With one in seven Russians believed to be an alcoholic, heavy drinking is wreaking havoc on the country's health.

About 40,000 Russians die every year from extreme intoxication and 40 per cent of the country's 300,000 annual accidental deaths are directly linked to alcohol. Health experts say alcohol abuse is largely to blame for a fall in life expectancy to less than 59 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia restricted advertising on hard liquor and banned its public consumption in 1995, but imposed no similar restrictions on beer at that time. The new rules prohibit beer commercials on television between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. and ban billboards near hospitals, schools and sports centres. Starting in January, it will also be forbidden to depict people, animals or cartoon characters in beer ads and to include any suggestion that consuming beer "will help achieve social, sporting or personal success, or will improve one's physical or mental condition."

The bill currently being considered would require licences for selling beer and make it illegal to drink beer "on the street, in stadiums, squares, parks, on public transport and other public places." Brewers furiously opposed the advertising restrictions, pointing out that they are heavier than those imposed in many Western countries.

Television networks stand to lose 10 per cent of their advertising revenue because of the restrictions and sports teams say the ban on ads by beer companies — their biggest source of sponsorship — could make it impossible for some clubs to survive. Russia's hockey and soccer federations have written to the Duma asking for the rules to be rescinded. Brewers say they are being targeted by lawmakers under the influence of the country's powerful, and largely state-controlled, vodka industry.

And while they acknowledge that public consumption of beer is banned in many Western countries, they say Russia, where the average restaurant bill equals about 4 per cent of the average monthly wage, is a special case. "Thirty per cent of all beer is bought for immediate consumption by people who cannot afford to drink beer in cafés or bars, where it costs twice as much," says Mamontov. "No one can prove that if you start drinking beer, you will progress onto vodka. In fact, the vodka producers are worried about the very opposite — that those who have started drinking beer will never move on to vodka."

If the proposed ban on public consumption is approved, few expect the government will ever be able to enforce it. Deputy health committee chief Gerasimenko is among the pessimists. "I can't say that I expect to see real results from this, largely due to laziness of our police force and the fact that one can always bribe one's way out of such situations," he says. Alexei Dolbilin, 22, finishing off a morning beer outside Moscow's Kievsky train station, agrees. "Nothing will come of this law," he says, adding that he doesn't think increased beer consumption is anything for Russians to worry about. "Beer is better for you than Western fizzy drinks with chemicals in them. It's a natural product."


12 October, 2004