The sale of alcoholic beverages in the Russian Federation is subject to government regulation. At the same time, the legislation determines not only the procedure for its implementation, but also the hours at which alcohol can be sold.
The main document that regulates the rules for the sale of alcohol on the territory of the Russian Federation is Federal Law No. 171-ФЗ dated November 22, 1995 "On state regulation of the production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products and on limiting the consumption (drinking) of alcoholic products" …
Alcohol sales hours allowed
The period of time during which it is allowed to trade in alcoholic beverages in retail outlets is established by paragraph 5 of Article 16 of the specified regulatory legal act. This section of the law specifies that retail sales of alcohol in Russia are permissible between 8:00 and 23:00. Accordingly, retail sales of alcoholic beverages are prohibited from 11 pm to 8 am. These requirements are in effect taking into account the local time in each constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, the same section of the law on the procedure for the sale of alcohol emphasizes that these requirements do not apply to all types of organizations that trade in alcoholic beverages. Thus, these restrictions do not apply to organizations that provide catering services, as well as duty-free shops, known as "duty-free".
At the same time, catering organizations can sell any kind of alcohol during the opening hours of their institution. If an individual entrepreneur is engaged in the provision of services in the field of public catering, during the hours of the ban on the sale of alcohol, that is, from 23 to 8 o'clock, he has the right to sell only some types of low-alcohol drinks. In particular, beer, beer drinks, cider, poiret and mead are included in the permitted list, given in the same paragraph 5 of article 16 of the law on the sale of alcohol.
Additional restrictions on the sale of alcohol
When planning, for example, to organize a point for the retail sale of alcoholic beverages, it is necessary to take into account the additional provisions fixed in paragraph 5 of article 16 of the law on the sale of alcohol. In particular, it grants the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation the right to establish their own restrictions on the retail sale of alcohol, which do not contradict the federal law. Such restrictions may apply to the time, place and conditions of sale of alcoholic beverages. At the same time, additional conditions can be as stringent as you like, up to a complete ban on the sale of alcohol. Therefore, before taking any steps towards organizing a business in this area, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with local legislation.
