UPDATE: Finance Ministry: Vodka price rise to boost illegal sales

(Rewrites story)

MOSCOW, Aug 28 (PRIME) -- An increase of the minimum vodka price will trigger growth of illegal sales, a spokesperson for the Finance Ministry told PRIME on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, news daily Izvestiya said that the Healthcare Ministry had sent a proposal to the Finance Ministry to raise excises for all spirits containing over 9% of pure alcohol. The ministry thinks that vodka must cost at least 300 rubles per 0.5 liter bottle.

The Finance Ministry’s spokesperson said: “Unjustified growth of the vodka price will lead to an increase of illegal traffic of the product and to growth of surrogate consumption.” The current minimum of 205 rubles per 0.5 liter bottle is economically justified, the person said.

An official of the Industry and Trade Ministry told PRIME that an increase of the minimum vodka price will trigger growth of surrogate consumption.

“The position of the authority is as follows – an increase of the minimum vodka price to 300 rubles per 0.5 liters will have only two outcomes: a shrinkage of the legal market and a serious increase of consumption of surrogates like hawthorn infusion.”

(59.1476 rubles – U.S. $1)

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