The Ministry of Health spoke out against the online sale of alcohol

The Ministry of Health does not support the initiative to sell alcohol on the Internet. Assistant Minister of Health Alexey Kuznetsov told Vedomosti.

“The Ministry of Health does not support proposals to allow online sales of alcohol, as this will increase the availability of alcoholic beverages and lead to an increase in sales and consumption, including by minors,” he explained.

Kuznetsov called alcohol a risk factor for the development of many diseases, including oncology, cardiovascular diseases, and diseases of the digestive system. According to him, the expansion of alcohol distribution channels could negatively affect demographic indicators and plans to achieve the goal of increasing life expectancy in Russia to 78 years by 2030.

Earlier today, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov statedthat the Ministry of Finance supports the sale of alcohol on the Internet. He noted that the government does not yet have a unified position on this issue. According to Siluanov, the initiative has both pros and cons. “We believe that there are more advantages,” he added, noting that it is necessary to establish control over the sale of alcohol online.

The possibility of liberalizing the trade in alcohol has been actively discussed since 2022. Initially, it was planned to conduct an experiment with the online sale of Russian wines through Russian Post from the fall of 2023. The Government Commission approved its implementation from November 1, 2023 to July 31, 2026. The Ministry of Finance was involved in the development of the bill , in the spring it was submitted to the State Duma, but in mid-June it became known that discussion of the bill in parliament was suspended.

A bill from Senator Andrei Klishas on the legalization of online trading was also submitted to the State Duma. According to the initiative, the permit will only be valid if the seller is included in the register of persons owning sites for the remote retail sale of alcohol. Rosalkoregulirovanie will maintain such a register. In the Ministry of Industry and Trade supported idea. At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs saw in the legalization of online sales of alcohol the risk of weakening state control over the circulation of alcohol, wrote “Vedomosti”.