Russia: This week a special parliamentary committee met to agree on amendments to the law restricting the sale and consumption of beer in public places, Russia TV reported in its "Parliamentary Hour" programme on 23 January.

In early January President Vladimir Putin refused to sign the law, which bans the retail sale of beer in children's, educational and healthcare organizations, the consumption of beer in public places and the sale of beer to minors. The president sent the bill back to the Duma asking for certain clauses to be more clearly defined, according to ‘Gateway To Russia’.

However, opinion in the committee is divided on exactly which public places should be included in the ban. Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovskiy took a strict line saying: "Of course you can go into drinking establishments, snack bars and cafes, go up to the bar and have a drink. But nowhere in the cities of Europe is it acceptable to let young people go out in the streets holding dirty bottles and cans."

A futher dispute is over whether the details of the law should actually be decided at the central or local level. MP Nikolay Pavlov from the Motherland party argued that "a federal law should never give certain local authority or municipal bodies the ability to discuss the issue of where beer can be drunk. Why? Because this creates the possibility of it being abused." Meanwhile One Russia MP Valeriy Draganov, head of the committee on economic policy, enterprise and tourism, put forward the view that "local authority bodies are best placed to know where and when to implement restrictions or bans. Problems will arise if these are imposed from the centre."

The brewers fear a strict ban on public consumption will lead to a loss in sales as, according to them, in Russia only 10 per cent of the population living in large towns and cities choose to drink beer in bars or restaurants, while one third of Russians prefer to drink beer in the street. Vyacheslav Mamontov, head of the executive secretariat of the union of Russian producers of beer and non-alcoholic drinks, explained "people consume beer in the street because, as we well know, a half-litre glass of beer in a restaurant costs several times more than a retail bottle of beer".

Mariya Sheyakova, a PR manager for a brewery, highlighted the possible economic impact of the law. "Unfortunately, first and foremost, the law will not just hit the larger companies, but also it will mostly affect smaller local breweries in the small towns. And, naturally, this will affect employment and tax revenue," she said. However Draganov believes the law will not affect beer sales and may even boost its popularity as people will be encouraged to drink more if they are in the comfortable environment of a bar. And, although it has yet to come into force, the first benefits of this law are already being felt. The breweries are now proposing to print warnings on their bottles saying that beer must not be sold to minors.

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