MOSCOW, December 5 The Government and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation do not plan to introduce a state monopoly on alcohol or the production of alcoholic products, as was the case in the USSR or the Russian Empire, said Deputy Minister of Finance Alexei Sazanov during a plenary meeting of the State Duma.
During the meeting, a bill was considered and adopted in the first reading, giving regions the right to prohibit on their territory the retail sale of beer, mead and a number of other low-alcohol drinks in so-called “nalivaikas”. Discussing the document, the deputies asked the deputy minister whether the government had “thought” about the possible introduction of a state monopoly on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages — after all, “since the times of Kievan Rus, the Muscovite Kingdom, in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union” there was a monopoly.
«» Indeed, the government and the Ministry of Finance do not plan to introduce a monopoly on alcohol or the production of alcoholic products. All your examples are correct — both about Rus' and about Tsarist Russia, but in those days the treasury was replenished from the profits earned by the monopoly. Currently , the treasury is replenished from VAT and excise taxes, accordingly, there is no need to create a monopoly,” Sazanov commented on the question.
He also touched on another topic. Thus, according to him, the bill does not define the term “nalivayka,” which threatens the activities of restaurants where people spend romantic evenings, which are accepted within the law at the same level as “nalivayki.” In addition, such uncertainty does not make it possible to establish different requirements for “liquors” and catering.
“We have the same brush — we take a restaurant where people go in the evening to have dinner, spend a romantic evening with a glass of wine, and a “nalivaya” that sells beer that can be poured into a bottle, taken out and sold. We put them under the same brush and we say that at the same time in all parts of the city it is necessary to establish a single time until which they can trade. This is impossible,” Sazanov said, adding that in residential areas such a restriction can be established, but in the center “it is inappropriate to do this, where there are many tourists.»
““As a matter of fact, the proposals of the Ministry of Finance and the government, I hope, are quite simple — let’s separate the “nalivikas”, and it is for the “nalivikas” that we will introduce additional requirements and restrictions,” the deputy minister drew attention.
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