The Public Chamber of Russia has proposed reintroducing Soviet-era restrictions on alcohol sales. The initiative aims to reduce the hours during which alcoholic beverages can be purchased, a measure its proponents believe would increase the life expectancy of the working-age population. However, some experts argue that this approach is ineffective and merely creates an illusion of addressing the underlying problem.
Currently, alcohol in Russia is available for purchase from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Public figures advocating for the new restrictions insist that the existing limits are insufficient and suggest reverting to a sales window of 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Sergei Rybalchenko, Chairman of the Public Chamber`s Commission on Demography and the author of the initiative, explained his stance:
The primary objective is to increase life expectancy, especially for the working-age population. The demographic experience of the Soviet period shows that it was precisely then that record reductions in mortality, particularly among the male population, and an increase in birth rates were achieved. Therefore, our proposal is not to take radical steps but rather to pursue a consistent federal policy to reduce the temporal and spatial availability of alcohol. I believe that during the Soviet period, when strong alcohol was sold from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, this was entirely correct, and we should gradually return to this time restriction. Regions, meanwhile, can establish even stricter rules. Statistics confirm that life expectancy began to grow for the first time during the period when alcohol consumption restrictions were introduced in 1985. While the `Gorbachev campaign` is often judged by the negative public perceptions it generated, statistically, it marked the first increase in life expectancy in many years, especially for working-age men.
Sergei Rybalchenko
Chairman of the Public Chamber`s Commission on Demography
Conversely, Denis Puzyrev, an alcohol market expert and author of the Telegram channel “Drunken Master,” is convinced that the era of planned economy and controlled alcohol sales is long gone.
I would like to point out that Sergei Rybalchenko, the author of this initiative, is a public figure who has been part of various commissions on demographic policy for 20 years. Given that demographic policy hasn`t improved in two decades, perhaps he should consider a different field. As for claims of a `wonderful` Soviet past with alcohol sold until 7 PM, it`s worth remembering that the state trade system then was such that all shops generally closed no later than 8 PM. So, alcohol sales until 7 PM simply aligned with the general shop hours. It seems to me that the authors of such `let`s go back to the USSR` or `10-kopeck ice cream` proposals should well remember what actually happened in the Soviet Union when the time, place, and quantity of alcohol sales were restricted. I vividly recall enormous queues, storming wine sections, and crushes. Globally, this brought nothing good, despite the fact that alcohol consumption in the late Soviet Union was higher. When the Soviet leadership introduced such measures, the trend was upward – per capita alcohol consumption was rising. Now, the trend is downward, and why introduce additional restrictions on a declining trend is absolutely unclear.
Denis Puzyrev
Alcohol Market Expert, Author of “Drunken Master” Telegram Channel
Federal law in Russia permits regions to impose stricter alcohol sales regulations than those set at the national level. For instance, since March 1st of this year, in the Vologda region, alcohol can only be purchased on weekdays from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. In Chechnya, the window is from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Yakutia limits sales to just six hours a day (2:00 PM to 8:00 PM), and Tuva from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
Rupert Blackwood 
Clement Ashworth