Health

Russia Seeks Vodka Tax Cut amid Recession

by Jordan Yerman | January 23, 2009 at 09:58 am

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As economic hardship grips Europe, Russia is seeking to ease the burden on its citizens by cutting the tax on vodka by nearly half.

Aside from making legit sales more affordable, it potentially reduces the demand for contraband vodka made with toxic ingredients.

This tax cut would not stop those who make their own booze purely for personal use, however: reading a recipe on Wikipedia does not a distiller make!

The head of the new state alcohol agency - gleefully dubbed the "ministry for vodka" by the press - was advocating cutting taxes on the national tipple to make it more accessible, the Izvestia daily reported.

Igor Chuiyan, the former head of state alcohol monopoly Rosspirtprom, has been named to head the new federal agency for alcohol market regulation, or Rosalkogol for short.

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f3d3photog

at 11:23 on January 23rd, 2009

Ok, this is actually a bottle of homemade Damascus wine in a recycled Russian Vodka bottle. Given to me as a gift during my travels in Syria summer 2007. careful viewers will notice the local Syrian beer bottle in the background!

f3d3photog has contributed a photo to this story.