Low-alcohol drinks will be limited to minimum prices: should we expect a new rise in price

But it will be safer

The list of alcoholic beverages for which minimum retail prices (MRP) have been introduced in Russia, apparently, will grow with new “members”. The list of alcohol with a minimum wage, which until now included vodka, brandy, cognac and sparkling wines, may be expanded to include apple cider and beer. In any case, the Ministry of Finance reacted positively to the relevant initiative of the Duma Committee on Economic Policy, which appeared after the recent mass poisoning of Russians in the Volga Federal District.

If any of the readers have never consumed cider, then let them say thank you. Maybe for this reason you are still alive and not in a hospital bed. The strength of this drink, although it starts from 2%, but let it not mislead anyone. Knocks down just like that.

At the beginning of this month, in the Volga Federal District, more than 100 people were poisoned by cider (or rather, from a fake drink similar to it), 36 of them died, and several more are still in hospital wards in extremely serious condition. In a drink codenamed “Mr. Cider”, the examination revealed dangerous impurities of methanol – a deadly poison. And in hot pursuit withdrew from the turnover of more than 70 thousand liters of this very “cider”.

In Moscow, the controlling structures checked about 3,000 points, but to our happiness, they did not reveal anything suspicious, “the beloved city can sleep peacefully.”

This sad statistics prompted domestic lawmakers to once again think about whether we are effectively fighting surrogate and counterfeit alcoholic beverages. And come to the conclusion that if a minimum retail price is set for low-alcohol cider and beer, then buyers will not be led to their “substitutes”. Which, as the events in the Volga region show, can end in death.

In terms of consumption, cider, of course, is difficult to compete with traditional grape and sparkling wines. But it occupies a stable niche in Russia in 50 million liters per year.

According to some market participants, the very discussion of the introduction of the MRP for cider and beer in the near future will cause their price to rise by about 10%. But can this measure put an end to a series of mass poisonings from alcohol?

“There is no panacea for poisoning,” said Vadim Drobiz, director of the Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (CIFRRA). – As they used to be, so they will continue to be, you can’t get anywhere here. In any segment of the market there will always be an illegal component, its existence is justified by the banal poverty of a significant part of the population. For example, relative to our average salary, the price of alcohol in Russia is 4-5 times more expensive than in the West. That’s why they don’t drink cheap alcohol-containing liquids there, but they do drink here. And methyl alcohol will find its way into alcoholic products in any case. Every year we lose at least 20-30 people as a result of mass poisoning.

– But if the minimum wage does not help in the fight against illegal trafficking, then why is it needed at all?

– I’m not saying that it won’t help, of course, it will play its certain role. But the main point is that it will give an economically fair price for the same cider or beer. Why do major Western alcohol producers oppose the introduction of minimum retail prices? In retail chains, they arrange promotions-sales of beer at reduced prices. Our producers cannot afford such dumping: selling products at a price below cost. In addition, alcohol in our reality is not the product for which you need to declare a discount.

– How exactly will the MRP for cider and beer help to set economically fair prices for these drinks?

– Those who have products that are worse and cheaper will be forced to improve the quality and raise the price to the minimum wage. It is possible that he will completely leave the market, will not withstand competition. But it is economically justified. So the MRC is the right measure, and it should have been introduced a long time ago. The virtual minimum price still exists. Those who sell at a reduced cost today do not save on their own well-being, but on the quality of the product. Here, let them pull themselves up to the level of the state standard.

– Speaking not about the virtual, but about the real minimum price for cider, what should it be?

– All the calculations of market specialists are already there, but I am not familiar with them. They talk about 100 rubles per liter or 150. But I don’t think that officials will quickly resolve this issue. They will probably make a proper publicity on it first, then go on summer vacations… Most likely, we will see the minimum wage for cider towards the end of the year.