The Public Chamber`s proposal suggests limiting alcohol sales from 11 AM to 7 PM. Experts are debating whether this will reduce consumption or merely lead to a surge in the black market. Several regions already enforce strict measures, some allowing sales for only two hours a day.
The Public Chamber of the Russian Federation has put forward an initiative to return to the Soviet practice of selling alcohol from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Currently, in most Russian regions, alcoholic beverages can be purchased from 8 AM to 11 PM. The Chamber believes that existing restrictions are insufficient.
The new concept for selling alcoholic beverages envisions a gradual transition to the «Soviet» timetable, reducing the permissible sales window by one hour each year. The goal is to «increase the life expectancy of the working-age population,» according to Sergey Rybalchenko, Chairman of the Public Chamber`s Commission on Demography. He noted that the Soviet experience showed a record decline in mortality, especially among the male population, and an increase in birth rates, as well as an extended life expectancy for working-age men.
If this proposal is implemented, its authors should clearly remember what happened in the USSR when the time, place, and quantity of alcohol sold were restricted. I distinctly recall enormous queues, assaults on liquor departments, and crushes. Furthermore, alcohol consumption in the late Soviet Union was higher. At that time, consumption was rising, and the authorities introduced measures. Now, however, the trend is downward. Why introduce additional restrictions on a downward trend is absolutely unclear.
Starting March 1, authorities in several regions introduced their own stricter regulations on alcohol sales. Although night sales were already prohibited nationwide, constituent entities now have the right to tighten rules at their discretion.
Over 60 regions have slightly tightened their rules, while five have implemented «draconian» measures. For instance, in the Tula region, alcohol is sold from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM; in Yakutia, from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM; in Tuva, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM; and in Chechnya, from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM. The Vologda region, the only non-Muslim region with a two-hour sales window, is experiencing population adaptation. Journalist Vladimir Peshkov from Vologda comments:
Essentially, all such restrictions lead only to people adapting to them. Liquor stores in Vologda are indeed closing, and it`s noticeable. Some liquor stores have reoriented purely to food. People mostly view alcohol sale restrictions with irony – at least what I see. Those who need it will buy it between 12 and 2 PM or elsewhere. Among my friends, a new habit has emerged – checking the clock, engaging in very strict time management. Businesses simply adapt: some close, some open.
Independent alcohol expert Andrey Tkemaladze urges a broader view of the situation in the Vologda region:
I think the regions surrounding Vologda were very pleased with this decision. We constantly see statistics for Vologda, but no one publishes statistics for the surrounding regions. I am confident that alcohol sales there have increased several times, and alcohol consumption among the population has somehow risen. Such problems cannot be solved by prohibitionist methods.
Medical professionals also showed little enthusiasm for the new idea, believing that a reduced alcohol sales schedule would not solve systemic problems. Psychiatrist-narcologist Alexey Kazantsev recommends:
I am more in favor of social advertising that would show on television the terrible scenes that happen to people with addiction: alcoholic delirium, consequences for memory, impaired thinking, sense of humor – how degradation proceeds. This needs to be shown more. Restrictions will also play a role, but for addicts, they will lead to the consumption of counterfeit products and illicit sales. Remember the times when taxi drivers, so to speak, drove around with alcohol in their trunks. We have already been through all this.
Yaroslav Nilov, head of the State Duma Committee on Labor, went even further, proposing a ban on advertising non-alcoholic beer and its sale at gas stations, pointing out that it can contain up to 0.5% alcohol, whereas kefir has 0.7% and kvass 1.2%.
