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MOSCOW, November 6. The government has submitted to the State Duma a bill temporarily allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages in stores located at airports for passengers flying within Russia, follows from the database of the lower house of parliament.
The document was developed to support operators of Russian international airports and owners of duty-free shops (DFS), who suffered serious losses during the spread of the new coronavirus infection and unfriendly actions of foreign states.
The bill allows, until June 30, 2026, the retail sale of alcoholic beverages to MBT owners in stores located in domestic departure lounges and in baggage claim halls for domestic air transportation of passengers and in baggage claim halls located in the transport security zones of international airports of the Russian Federation, establishing special requirements for such a sale.
Alcohol products imported into the Russian Federation by the owner of the MBT for the purpose of its subsequent retail sale in such stores are allowed to be affixed with federal special stamps (FSM) in customs warehouses owned by such persons. In this case, the owner of the IBT who owns the warehouse must be included in the register of owners of customs warehouses, and the location of the warehouse itself is included in the license for the retail sale of alcohol by the relevant persons. The warehouse must also be located in the territories determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation to conduct an experiment on marking FSM of alcohol imported into Russia, placed under the customs warehouse procedure.
According to the register of IBT owners of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, from 2019 to March 2023, the number of such owners decreased by 20%. At the same time, according to the explanatory note, “the volume of retail sales of alcoholic beverages in duty-free stores from 2019 to 2022 inclusive decreased from 1,125,289.4 dal to 406,084.3 dal, which is 64%.” Under the conditions of sanctions, MBT owners cannot return goods to their main suppliers due to the closure of transport and logistics corridors by European states. In addition, airport rents account for an average of 30% of the duty free industry's revenue, the note also noted.
Based on the analysis presented by the Eurasian Duty Free Trade Association, the average bill for one passenger on domestic airlines is 349 rubles. At the same time, in 2022, passenger traffic on domestic airlines amounted to 77.7 million passengers. If the provisions of the bill are implemented, the industry predicts an increase in the average bill per domestic passenger by 33%, which will be about 115 rubles. In this regard, if the passenger flow of domestic airlines is maintained at the level of 2022, the additional revenue of the industry will be about 8.95 billion rubles, the note says.
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