Alcohol consumption is a major problem in Russia and the Duma is now committed to address the problem with the high consumption of vodka in the country.
Russians drink an average of 18 liters of vodka per year, which is about twice as much as the average Swede.
Vodka drinking has become part of the Russian culture and they consume vodka in several contexts. The Russians look for opportunities to drink. The problem with alcohol has also increased since the Russian people's beer consumption has increased quite a lot. This has contributed to that people walk around downtown drinking beer.
Today, half a liter of vodka costs about 2 Euro in Russia. Dmitrij Medvedev will try to reduce the alcohol consumption by raising the price. He has given a proposal for a tax increase of 30 percent from the year-end and after that, the tax will increase gradually until 2013.
Many analysts perceive Medvedev's move as a major risk. The Russian people were against Gorbatjov when he imposed tough measures against drinking in1985. His popularity among the people then dropped drastically.
Many companies that want to establish operation in Russia have perceive the consumption of vodka as a major problem. Rumors says that drinking vodka is common when doing business with Russian companies. Most likely, many global companies welcome Medvedev's proposal to reduce the consumption of vodka that has become part of the Russian culture.
Cecilia Helland