Expert Shelishch: “This is not necessary to combat drunkenness”
Since July 1, the minimum retail prices for alcoholic beverages with a strength above 28 degrees have increased. Now half a liter of vodka will cost at least 299 rubles, this is a decree of the Ministry of Finance — and period. Cognac and brandy will also become noticeably more expensive. But, as an old slogan from a Soviet joke says, “we won’t stop drinking anyway.”
Why did the prices for strong drinks increase: vodka from 281 to 299, brandy to 403 from 375 rubles, cognac to 556 from 517? Let us remind you that they were raised by the Ministry of Finance by its decree. And he was pushed to this by a whole bunch of factors that adjusted the cost of half a liter. Inflation that is not decreasing in any way, an increased excise tax rate and an increase in production costs, which includes imported equipment and the cost of spare parts, and staff salaries…
The new “minimum wage” half a liter of vodka differs from the old one by 18 rubles. For someone — “just”, for some “entirely”. And this price, as the Ministry of Finance promises, will remain until December 31, 2026. For 2.5 whole years you don’t have to think about the cost of a “villain with a sticker” may increase.
We can conclude that the minimum prices for strong alcohol are increased so that consumers do not have a violent protest about this and so that they do not start this addiction. The budget needs income more than ever…
The authorities' task is not an easy one. But they manage. In any case, retail alcohol sales have been breaking all records over the past seven years. In 2023, they increased by 3.6%, to 7.2 liters per capita. And in 2020 they rose by more than 6%, but then there was a coronavirus pandemic and many Russians, one might say, did not drink, but were treated.
And although prices are increasing by 0.5 liters, frankly speaking, sparingly and not even every year, initiatives are still being born in society to set the minimum wage at 100 rubles. 300 rubles per bottle — it's a lot. If we introduce a fair price, then make it three times lower. No shadow alcohol producer will be able to compete with such a price, and counterfeit alcohol will leave our market on its own.
“The minimum price for alcohol was not adopted to combat drunkenness,” says the head of the Russian Consumer Union, Pyotr Shelishch. — In the late 90s of the last century, I was a State Duma deputy and it was then that I initiated the introduction of the minimum wage. To protect people's lives. Then tens of thousands of our fellow citizens died or became disabled from so-called accidental alcohol poisoning. Surrogates were made in some basements from who knows what. «Entrepreneur» steals a tank of some low-quality industrial alcohol — and now several tanks of swill are ready, from which people were poisoned.
— This is a signal to the buyer. It can be used to determine whether a product is legal or a fake. If a person buys a half-liter at a price that is obviously lower than the official minimum, he takes responsibility for the consequences; there is no need to blame the authorities later.
People have more money; for two years in a row, nominal wages in the country have been growing by 14%. This is one of the reasons. It is necessary to take into account that there is also nervous tension and stress in society, which many are accustomed to relieving with the help of alcohol. As for the price increase, it is commensurate with both the level of inflation and production costs. But the minimum price — is not a way to stop drinking, it is a way to show that alcohol is legal.
— I do not rule out that the share of illegal alcohol on the market may decrease. The authorities finally seem to have decided to equalize excise taxes on all types of alcohol; we have been making such a proposal for a long time. Otherwise, the excise tax on food alcohol is traditionally high, but on medical alcohol there is none at all. Under the guise that medical alcohol is used to make medicines, considerable volumes are actually used to produce surrogate alcohol.