The adoption of such legislation can cause “mass dissatisfaction of citizens, including those who buy alcohol only in connection with ceremonial events or for the purposes of donation”.
Moscow: The State Duma Committee for Economic Policy recommended the Lower Chamber of the Russian Parliament to reject the bill in the first reading, which provides that citizens will only be able to buy alcohol if they have a special recording of preventive interview with a specialist in their profile on the central state administration portal (Gosuslugi). The proposal was submitted by Andrej Svincs from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.
The adoption of such legislation can cause “mass dissatisfaction of citizens, including those who buy alcohol only in connection with ceremonial events or for the purposes of donation, and will lead to a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages to foreign nationals and persons without nationality who do not have registration on the Gosuslugi portal,” the committee wrote.
Would burden Russian health care
In addition, the implementation of the proposed provisions would lead to a significant burden on health care facilities providing care in the field of adictology, which would subsequently require to strengthen their personnel occupation and allocate additional budgetary funds, the committee pointed out.
MEP Svincov proposed to amend the Act on the Control of Production and Sales of Alcoholic Drinks. In the case of approval, it would be prohibited to sell alcohol “to persons over 18 years of age who do not have a confirmed record on the single portal of state and municipal services on a preventive interview with the adictologist”.
The legislature in the explanatory memorandum claimed that his initiative aims to “explain to young people in detail all the harmful consequences of alcohol consumption and provide timely medical assistance to those who already have problems or dependence on alcohol”.
