The participants of the meeting reviewed the development of the alcohol market in 2010 and the effects of supervision as well as of the measures to uncover malfeasance in the industry, in particular bootlegging of ethanol and alcoholic beverages.
"2010 was the first full year of operation of the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation. Figures show that the share of bootleg alcohol in the market has grown smaller over the past year," stated Mr Zubkov in his opening.
"In 2010, excise duties on ethanol and alcoholic beverages provided 81.5 billion roubles in revenue to the federal budget, which is 9.5 billion roubles more than in 2009. Another important sign showing that the share of the gray market is shrinking is that the difference between retail sales and production is gradually growing smaller," said the first deputy prime minister.
According to him, these results were achieved through tougher control and supervision. In 2010, inspectors with the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation inspected 2,334 companies, suspending 605 licenses and revoking 128 licenses. Audits conducted by the Federal Taxation Service brought in 14.1 billion roubles to the federal budget, which is 180% more than in 2009.
The participants of the meeting noted the effectiveness of the federal campaign promoting healthy lifestyle choices, Healthy Russia, running from 2009 to 2012, through which the government has already reduced retail sales of hard liquor by 8.1 million decalitres, to 158 million decalitres, reducing the amount of alcohol consumed from 18 to 15 litres per capita. In addition to this, several regions imposed a ban on the sale of alcohol in the evenings and at night, which also helped to reduce alcohol consumption.
The commission also noted the importance of the development and implementation of regional programmes to address the problem of alcohol abuse and carry out preventive measures against it. Currently, there are 139 regional programmes for the promotion of healthy lifestyles underway. At the same time, 18 regions are not running any programmes to fight alcoholism.
"I would like the Ministry of Social Development to update these figures, prepare the necessary materials for a government meeting and invite the leaders of these regions to it. Maybe everything is all right in these places so they just don't need such programmes. Let's look at their figures together," said Mr Zubkov.