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Russia: Drinking vodka and hard alcohol in public is already illegal in Russia, and officials in the State Duma said the new legislation was appropriate given recent terrorist attacks and heightened security measures aimed at protecting the public. Brewers, however, called the measure "a witch hunt" and blamed the country's powerful vodka industry, The Moscow Times posted on September 16.

A bill banning beer commercials between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. came into effect this month, and the number of ads has already fallen by 60 percent, according to the Vedomosti business daily. A prohibition on the use of people and animals in beer ads will take effect next year.

A second bill, which the Duma approved in the first of three required readings July 9, originally targeted underage drinkers and had the backing of brewers. But a raft of new revisions to the proposed law penned by two deputies from the pro-Kremlin United Russia party changed the bill significantly. Under the changes, it would become illegal to drink beer "on the street, in stadiums, squares, parks, on public transport and other public places."

"In light of the toughening of civil order in connection with the recent terror attacks, I believe it will be implemented successfully," said Sergei Nikitukhin, an adviser to the Duma's Economic, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Committee, which is reviewing the bill. "OK, it will be difficult, but it's time to face up to the difficulties," Nikitukhin said. "What we have now is bedlam."

He noted that plenty of summer cafes and bars would still cater to Russia's beer drinkers. Vyacheslav Mamontov, the head of the Russian Brewers' Union, called the restrictions "the latest repression" of the nation's burgeoning beer sector, which is expected to grow by 7 percent to 8 percent this year.

Industry players say they have already been hit by the ad restrictions, which could effectively end brewers' sponsorship of sports events. No. 1 brewer Baltika has already scrapped its sponsorship of Russia's Champions League soccer, for which it reportedly paid $2 million annually.

Baltika's marketing director Andrei Rukavishnikov called the new public drinking laws a "witch hunt," and suggested Russia's mighty vodka lobby was to blame. "They are clearly unhappy about the shift in types of alcohol consumption and a reduction in the share of hard liquor in Russians' ration," Rukavishnikov said in an e-mail statement.

Public beer drinking in Russia is widespread. Many Russians do not consider beer an alcoholic drink and Muscovites can often be seen with a bottle on their way to work. However, a dearth of affordable restaurants and bars means the trend could be hard to shift.

"It is impossible to instill a culture of indoor beer drinking in the population until the average restaurant bill falls from 4 percent of a Russian's average wage to 1 percent at the most," Irina Kibina, vice president of No. 2 brewer Sun Interbrew, was quoted as saying by Vedomosti.


18 September, 2004