Kosarev spoke about the gigantic volumes of counterfeit alcohol: the expert named the reason

If someone believes that the licensing of goods plus the digitalization of the entire country will immediately put things in order in our economy, then he is deeply mistaken. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the speech of the head of the producers of alcoholic beverages Igor Kosarev at the Federation Council. He said that the illegal alcohol market is still flourishing, accounting for 20-25% of the total turnover.

For seven years of relentless struggle against drunkenness and alcoholism (to put it in the terms of Gorbachev’s times), and in fact by identifying illegal alcohol, about 600 billion rubles have been returned to the country’s budget. The result is impressive, but it is clearly too early to rest on our laurels. In Russia, 20-25% of the illegal circulation of strong alcoholic beverages still remains.

The weak link here is the licensing of commercial enterprises in rural areas and the circulation of medical alcohol. As practice shows (raids by law enforcement agencies and the public), 90% of counterfeit goods are produced entirely from medical alcohol, which is not taxed.

The illegal products themselves (based on medical alcohol) are mainly sold in rural areas. The shops there, as a rule, are not able to sell “normal” alcohol at all.

As in Gorbachev’s times, we went a little too far in the fight against the green serpent, Kosarev believes. They tightened the rules and control in such a way that general store shops are simply not able to comply with them.

For example, the size of the fee for paying for a license is the same for retail chains with a large number of stores, as for a tiny trading “point” in the village, where there are only a dozen and a half houses. Thus, in Russia, about 71 thousand settlements in the outback do not have shops selling licensed alcoholic beverages.

Also, in the village it is forbidden to sell alcohol (and obtain a license) to individual entrepreneurs. On which, by and large, all trade rests – they provide 80% of food to the villagers.

To solve this problem, a draft law has been prepared in the alcohol industry, which the State Duma may consider already in the spring session. In particular, the document proposes to reduce the fee for issuing licenses to villagers.

Officially, 35% of Russians live in rural areas, and according to statistics, they drink only 10% of alcoholic beverages. Which is very doubtful, because, as we know, people in the villages like to drink. But interested villagers drink not legal strong alcoholic drinks that our industry offers them, but moonshine.

According to Vadim Drobiz, director of the Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets, a license costs 60,000 rubles a month. To recoup the costs of obtaining it, from the sale of vodka (they do not consume anything else in the villages), it is necessary to gain at least 5,000 rubles a month. Which is highly doubtful. Since the minimum price of a bottle from next year is set at 281 rubles, it is too expensive for a village.

– A bottle of moonshine costs 50 rubles, – he says. “The peasant will buy it, and will not pay three hundred for legal vodka. In addition, any tincture can be made from moonshine.

Vadim Drobiz proposes to reduce the cost of the license by 10 times or even make it free for the village. Just so that there is at least just legal alcohol present and the buyer has a choice.

In an interview with MK, Alexei Nebolsin, deputy chairman of Opora Rossii, agreed that such a problem really exists for the rural outback.

– In order to obtain a license for the sale of alcohol, the store, among other things, must have a sales area of ​​at least 50 square meters and an authorized capital of 800 thousand rubles, – he explained. – These requirements are practically impossible for the village “point”. In addition, a stable Internet is needed, which would confirm the movement of goods in real time – its reception and sale. For these reasons, the sale of burnt vodka or homemade thrives in the outback. The main problem is compliance with the general requirements for village shops and the ability to connect to the EGAIS system. Which very often creates an insurmountable barrier for the village retail network. It is necessary to legally remove such barriers.

– Will these measures give a green light to legal alcohol sales?

– To be honest, I’m not sure. The minimum price of a bottle of vodka today is prohibitively high for residents of rural areas, where incomes, as a rule, are incomparable with urban ones. Whether they are allowed to sell “official” products in the villages or not, the result is likely to be the same. From under the floor will sell cheap singed vodka. A set of measures is needed here, including a reduction in the excise duty for producers of alcoholic beverages.